Fallen
by CrAzY-SiLLy-Me
Summary: AU SasuSaku 'I wanted to start a family with you...' he could remember her dying words, and he couldn't help but cry, for the first time since his family's death, Uchiha Sasuke cried. 'Too bad... it can't happen...' and indeed, it couldn't.
1. Raining Blood

_A/N: This is one story I'll enjoy typing…_

**_Disclaimer: Yes I own Naruto, if I didn't, why would I be in jail, arrested for claiming something that isn't mine? Sarcastic much! Of course I don't own Naruto! Be warned that I do OWN the plot, the new fancy words and others that are new to you. The rest that are familiar all belong to their creators.

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**Fallen**

Green eyes blinked as the owner of it continued to look at the angelic figure before her wearing white clothes. Who would've thought that angels do exist? Like what most books and other pictures described them, Angels were really beautiful, whether it was a he or a she.

She turned to her right to hear bat-like wings flapping, seeing a Demon dressed in dark crimson and black. A bit frightened, she backed away slightly and observed the new arrival. Based from her grandparents, it was all true, Demons did look attractive but you can sense an aura of negativity in them.

Swirling around to the left, her eyes caught sight of a man, all clad in grey, his coat was long enough, reaching his knees. According to her father, they were not to be messed with, especially when they stare at you for a long time, waiting for you to look away. A Hunter, one who hunts down and kills rogue Demons and Angels; also, it searches for another being, one far stronger than the rest.

"Sakura…"

The girl named Sakura slowly looked behind her where the voice came from. There stood a boy her age all dressed in black, the same color like his eyes and hair, most of all, his wings… they were pure ebony, celestial ones at that. This was a Fallen; a combination of an Angel and a Demon. The so-called Angelus, yet its slang name was Fallen. Why so? They either fell from heaven or are banned from hell, wherever they came from, one must be warned when coming across a Fallen; once they are in full Angelus mode, they will be the last thing you see.

But, there is one thing that a Fallen will not hurt, a gifted one, the chosen one. In short, his Mistress; and because of that certain person, a Fallen grows stronger to defend her with his life. This was his destiny, this will be her fate, now that her dream and warning has come, she will have to expect Seculars, a group of rogue Demon warriors, and Crusades, rogue Angel soldiers.

Myths and legends, they were mostly true; some were altered and some were false. Some are just told for fun yet some, were shared because of caution and signs. This is what Haruno Sakura believes in, from the day she was first told of these creatures, to the very present time.

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**_Chapter 1: Raining Blood  
_**

She continued eyeing the blackboard, yawning from time to time. History was really boring; she could sleep if she wanted to, but no, she had to keep her conduct grade, she needs to make a good impression, and since it's already her senior year, she has to keep up no matter what.

Ever since her so-called gift was developed, she started seeing things no one else can. Demon wings, Angel wings, Hunter marks and Angelus ones; she's seen it all. Even Crusades and Seculars, she's been able to be a witness to their existence. They were like humans, but only half, the other would be their supernatural ones.

Sakura turned to her front and looked at the very middle column and first row. _"Mischief Maker Uzumaki Naruto, status is half-human and half-demon. Personality wise, as a human, perfect, as a demon, failure, why? He's too caring to be one." _She sighed and turned to the boy seated behind the blonde demon a few seats away. _"Smart-but-lazy Nara Shikamaru, status is half-human and half-hunter. As a human, typical, as a hunter, negative; he's too lazy to even look for rogues, and even if there is one in front of him, he just sits or stands there, gazing at the clouds or at something else." _

The pink-haired girl shook her head and averted her gaze to the seat on her left, making sure she doesn't get caught like the last time. _"Lastly, we have ice-block Uchiha Sasuke. As a half-human and half-angelus, he's pretty good. Besides from gaining more than half the population of girls' attention here in Sugo-shizen High, he has good control on his powers; definitely perfect on both statuses, problem..? He cares-NOT for anybody here." _She nearly fell off her seat when the Uchiha's gaze turned to her, onyx eyes directly staring into her own green ones. _"Shit, I got caught again!" _

"Oi Haruno,"

"..?"

"Kakashi's talking to you."

Sakura blinked and turned to the front, noticing how the class' eyes were turned to her and how the teacher, Hatake Kakashi, was not so pleased with her lack of attention. She gulped, knowing what was to come. _"Oh no… not detention…" _

"Haruno Sakura, I've been calling you for eight times yet you still continued…" he glanced at Sasuke for a brief moment then back at her. "…Spacing out. Is there anything interesting outside?" he asked, gesturing to the window beside Sasuke's seat. "If there is, kindly share it to the class."

"Y-yes sir." She said and stood up. "I just thought that it was… well… that the weather is really nice today… and…"

"Very nice Haruno, kindly tell me what's so nice about a rainy day."

"_Oh shit…" _she thought and gulped. "It's… relaxing… and… cool…" her eyes started to scan the whole room, avoiding Kakashi's own stern gaze. "…I just love the rain, that's all."

From her left, a smirk began to graze the lips of her seatmate, his eyes not leaving her as she continued to answer the teacher's question. In his opinion, she was pretty good at staying calm on the outside despite her panicking on the inside. How did he know? Just one of his many talents of judging what a person really feels by the looks of how sweaty they are, how their eyes keep looking away or just from the tone of their voices.

"Haruno, please see me after school."

"O-okay…" she mumbled and sat back down as Kakashi continued to lecture his class about Japan's history. "Love the rain, che, how can I love a weather I hate so much?" she muttered quietly to herself. Sasuke's keen hearing caught it and slightly turned to her. "In case you haven't noticed, Kakashi just said you were looking outside to save you the embarrassment of answering why you were looking at me."

Sakura's eyes widened as she snapped her head at his direction, seeing a mocking smirk on his face. She blushed and turned back to the front, slightly lowering her head to hide the blush with her bangs. _"He is an ice cube, but like most of the girls here, I'm one of the many who got caught in his web." _She sighed and tried to calm her fast-beating heart. _"He successfully charmed me by just stepping foot into the school…" _she recalled how her grandmother told her how a single Fallen had the looks of an Angel and an intellect of a Hunter; plus the wittiness of a Demon and the power of all-three.

Last she heard about an Angelus' history was that they were looked down upon until their population increased and they started to create their own technique. Sadly, only a few managed to gain an original power. One of which was controlling certain elements. Some had power over fire, some on water, a few on earth and mostly on wind. There were others who gained control over sand and some on metal, wood and many more. She did hear about a certain clan, who gained a few genetics and hereditary forms from a group of Angels who had evil (white) eyes, a.k.a., Byaakugan.

The Hyuuga clan was the honorable group of Angels who gained the Byaakugan, not knowing how some of its powers were passed onto a few Angelus. A certain race from the Fallen had the "copy eye" called Sharingan, which sort of literally means "wheel". Name was based from its appearance where the eyes turn red and black commas swirl around the pupil looking like a spinning wheel. _"I keep forgetting the name of the clan who got it!" _she sighed and started zoning out again. "Uchiha, stop staring at me…" she whispered.

"So it's not okay for me to stare but for you, it's fine?"

"Shut up…"

He did but he still had a smirk. Sakura cursed him under her breath and clenched her fists. _"Damn you Uchiha…" _and she just ignored him despite her mind going wild. _"Also, why do I keep having that dream..? Why do those four always appear in it? And why is it that… I can't see their faces..?" _From the side, onyx eyes stayed glued to her until they narrowed slightly as she began to think more of her dreams.

* * *

"I know very well that you fancy Uchiha but must you stare at him whenever you get bored?" 

Sakura yawned and blinked, rubbing an eye. "Sorry sensei, it's just that I read in advance so I don't have any interests in some of the new lessons, to be perfectly honest, I sleep late because I still have to go to work after school and plus homework, researches, projects and everything." Again, she yawned as Kakashi raised a brow at her. One more thing that was a real mystery was that how their history teacher was such a… well… mystery. The lower part of his face was covered with a mask and he mostly wore black. The only thing that seems bright about him is his silver hair. Some students also wonder where he got the scar on his left eye.

"Would you like me to talk to your teachers about it? Perhaps I can ask them to exclude you from other necessities; you do have high grades that are no doubt to be questioned. Your attendance is perfect, your conduct is good and your participation in both academics and non ones is excellent."

"No, it's okay sir, I think I'll manage."

Kakashi hesitated for a moment before giving a sigh and a nod. "Alright, if that is what you want then I'll leave it at that. Just let me know if you change your mind."

"Okay, and sensei?"

"Yes?"

She smiled. "Thanks for covering for me back in class, my girl classmates would've probably waited for me outside to teach me another lesson as to why I was staring at," she raised two hands and formed the peace sign "_their _Sasuke-kun!" she quoted and brought her hands back down.

He chuckled and waved a dismissive hand. "No problem Haruno, now go on or you might be late for your job, which is what by the way?"

"Oh, just a florist in a nearby flower shop, my mom's old friend runs it and she's the one who has been helping me cope with my life after my parents' death." She said, her facial features giving a sad smile. Kakashi sympathized with her. He knew what it felt like to have no parental guidance at an early age. He already knew that the teen before him was orphaned at a tender age of nine and she was lucky someone took her in. As for him, it's another story. "Well, I'll be going now sensei." She said and waved goodbye to him and he nodded as acknowledgement.

She reached the outside compound of Sugo-Shizen High and breathed in deeply. She looked around, trying to see if there were any Seculars or Crusades in the vicinity, finding none, she skipped over to her work place. She was running late…

"Shit!"

Sakura stopped when her ears heard an all-too familiar voice, followed by a loud growl of either a rogue angel or rogue demon, whichever, she was tempted to find out what was wrong. She knew who the students in her school who have supernatural powers, yet she can't exactly say if it was exact or just her imagination. She does believe that Shikamaru was a hunter, since she saw the marks on the back of his palms. Sakura was very positive that Naruto was a demon, the tattoo on his left shoulder was already a dead giveaway and she saw it during their basketball practice.

As for Sasuke,

"_He's too mysterious that I doubt if that's his real name…" _yes, she assumed he was a Fallen, for she saw no marks on him, yet he had this strange aura that clearly hinted that he wasn't a normal human being. There are a lot of Hunters in her school, next would be demons then angels and the rarest would be a Fallen, who also has the rare blood type, AB. As for the gifted ones, like her, it all depends on how their sixth sense is developed.

A sound of birds, a thousand birds at that, rang through her ears and she stopped abruptly to take a look around. Not a single winged creature was there, so where was the noise coming from?

A growl…

Her eyes widened, she recognized a growl of a severely wounded Secular; she can still recall her last encounter with one when she was just ten years old. Luckily for her, her friend's mom was a hunter, so she was spared. Her body shivered as the growls became louder and louder and she slowly sunk to her knees, hugging herself.

Another growl came and it was close, her head shot up, her eyes went wider, she turned pale. Flying towards her was a black creature with tattered black bat wings and purple substance flowing freely down from its wound like a faucet turned on. It was a Secular, its golden eyes glaring menacingly at her and its outstretched claw ready to grab and crush her.

"Get the hell out of the way Haruno!" she heard a yell and was soon carried off bridal style. Just in time when the Secular immediately crushed the ground she was previously on. "What the heck is your problem? Aren't you a gifted?"

Sakura blinked and looked at her savior. She only realized that the Secular was actually chasing someone, and it was her rescuer who did so, who happens to be a Fallen, more importantly, her crush. "S-Sasuke..?"

"Shut up and hold on." He told her and as soon as her grip tightened on him, he made a sharp right turn then flew up, higher and higher. Sakura felt the air pressure whistle in her ear and she nearly went deaf because of it. His black celestial wings flapped and glided, making sure both of them would not fall.

Ironic. He was a Fallen, yet he must not fall, thus sprouts the elegant wings. She looked over his shoulder and saw the Secular closely following them, its mark on its forehead glowing a bright red. "Sasuke, the mark…" she said with a worried and scared tone. She knew that if marks began to glow, that would mean they were going to full stage or full Secular or whatever mode.

"Ever seen a Fallen fight a rogue?"

"No…"

"You're about to." And he zoomed down like a falcon diving to catch his prey. Sakura shut her eyes tightly, scared of heights. "Whatever happens, don't let go, otherwise, I might drop you and you'll die."

She gulped and gave a nod as he slowed down a bit and flew down the road like a speeding vehicle, the rogue demon still tailing them, red marks spread all over its body and still a fiery red. He stopped and put her down then turned to face the Secular, standing straight and a glare in his eyes. Sakura noticed how his onyx orbs turned red all of a sudden and he brought his hands together, the index and middle finger extended while the rest were clasped. He brought his hand seal closer to his face and waited for the Secular to come closer.

"_What does he plan to do?" _she asked in her mind, watching him.

"Katon…"

The rogue got closer and closer.

"…Goukakyuu…"

And finally…

"…no jutsu!"

And Sasuke breathed out a big ball of fire as the Secular flew towards him and stopped immediately after getting into contact with the flames. It screamed in agony, wailing and flapping its worn out wings wildly, looking a lot dangerous when you come close to it. The Secular flew upwards and Sasuke followed it, this time, a blue ball of lightning on his left palm, his right hand gripping onto his left wrist and the sound of a thousand birds came ringing in Sakura's ears. "Raikiri!" he yelled and plunged the ball of blue lightning inside the gut of the Secular, earning another scream of pain.

The teen flew right through it, covered in both purple and red blood, the former coming from the creature he had just killed while the latter was his own. From below, you'd think it was raining blood, a mixture of red and purple. He stayed in mid air, watching the Secular dissolve, the remains carried away by the soft breeze until nothing, not even a trace of blood, was left. Only the blood that covered the Angelus was left.

Sasuke's eyes turned back to black and he slowly flew down and reached the ground, his wings slowly disappearing back inside of him. He gave a deep sigh and ran a hand through his messy and icky hair. He grumbled; the purple goo would be hard to wash off compared to his own blood that began to dry up on his skin and clothes. He eyed Sakura, checking if she got any wounds or anything but saw that she was clean, except for the few bits of blood that he gave her when he wrapped his arms around her to save her from the rogue.

"Are you…" she trailed off. Sakura knew it would be a stupid question to ask if he was okay. Sasuke nodded none the less. "Yeah, I'm fine." Sakura wanted to whack herself, of course, one of his special abilities is to be able to give an accurate intuition, in other words, he can be psychic when he wants to be.

He sighed again and was about to walk away when he realized that he had brought her really far from well… wherever she lives. "Need a lift home?" he asked, closing his eyes and concentrating his energy ki, in other words, chakra, on his back and his black wings began to appear again, spreading wide, enough to wrap his whole body into a cocoon.

Sakura was about to refuse when she noticed that she didn't know where she was. "If it's not much of a bother…" she whispered, slightly embarrassed. Sasuke nodded and gestured her to come over and when she did, she nearly jumped when her feet left the ground and he again, carried her like they were newly weds.

"Just tell me the directions to your house." He said and she nodded and told him where to turn or go. Later, they finally reached the Haruno residence and both landed on the front door of Sakura's apartment. "Um, thanks for the… flight…" she said, grinning.

"Sure," he said and pocketed his hands, turning to leave but he stopped all of a sudden, feeling his body staggering and weakening. Sakura took notice of this and quickly rushed to where he was about to fall, catching him before he made contact with the cemented ground. He felt weak though he was still conscious yet couldn't move. "Sasuke-kun, hey, what's wrong?" he flinched and shut his eyes tight. "Secular's… bite…" he said before blacking out.

"…" her eyes widened. "A Secular's bite is poisonous…" she whispered, looking for his wound, finding it on his left shoulder then she tried to carry the heavy teen into her house. "Damn, for a basketball player, he's heavy…" Grunting, she leaned him on the door and pushed him there then fumbled with her keys, opening the lock and she pushed the door open. Unfortunately, Sasuke's unconscious body was leaning on the door and one of his arms was around Sakura so when he fell, she did as well, right on top of him.

"Okay… this is awkward…" she muttered and got up, pushing down the blush and closing the door. "What do I do..?" she sighed and tried hard to put him on the couch and make him feel comfortable, not like he could complain or not but hey! She's aspiring to be a doctor so she might as well treat her first patient the right way.

"How will I remove the poison? It's too late to suck it out…" she placed a hand on his forehead and pulled it back. "He's cold…" she whispered, fear evident in her eyes. "No way, I'm not gonna let you die on me!" she gave a determined look and tried to recall what his grandmother told her about healing or removing poison from a half breed. "Let's see…" she closed her eyes and clasped her hands together in a prayer form and began to chant as she glowed a bright white light and placed her palms over his wounds, slowly healing him, at the same time, removing the poison from his body.

After what seemed like eternity to her, she finally finished her job and panted for air. _"H-how did I know how to do that..?" _she felt something aching on her left collarbone and placed a hand over it, trying to soothe the pain. She glanced down and saw nothing out of the ordinary. _"Maybe I'm just tired…" _and she yawned afterwards. _"No, I can't sleep…" _she shook her head to keep awake and felt his forehead. "At least he's back to normal temperature, and his breathing is even." She smiled and went up the stairs, taking a pillow and blanket with her then went back down. Carefully, she lifted his head and placed a pillow under it then wrapped the blanket over his body. _"Consider this as my repayment for saving me." _She smiled at the sleeping Sasuke and noticed how his brows furrowed and he tossed and turned like a child.

"_He's having a nightmare…" _she ran her fingers through his hair, trying to calm him down and began to hum a soft tune to keep him at ease. Soon enough, he was calming down and drifting off to a peaceful slumber and she was glad at that. Her eyelids began to become heavy and she yawned as sleep finally took over her, not noting how her head made Sasuke's chest as her pillow.

* * *

He felt something heavy and move atop his chest. Slowly opening his eyes, he nearly jumped when he saw Sakura's head there. She was still asleep and still wearing her uniform, hair slightly a mess and a look of content on her face. Sasuke carefully sat up to not wake the girl and gathered enough chakra to control the air, making the element lift the girl up as he sat down and made her rest her head on his lap. He took the blanket and wrapped it around her body and placed the pillow he had used under her head. _"Normally, I'd just leave you but then, I couldn't just do that since you saved my life…" _

She stirred a bit, slowly opening her eyes and meeting onyx orbs staring down at her. Shocked, she quickly sat up and blushed from the close contact they had. "Um… are you… feeling… better?"

"Yeah," he said and got up, pocketing his hands. "Thanks."

"S-sure, anytime…"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course…"

"Why are you so nervous around me?"

Silence answered his question as she started fiddling with her fingers and the hem of her skirt. How would she answer this one? Looking around to avoid the topic, her eyes caught sight of the time, 8:54 AM, and she yelled. "Shit! We're going to be late!" she got up and ran around the room, the Fallen only staying calm and having his eyes closed as she went about conduct grades, being early and not being late ever since she started schooling, etc.

"It's Saturday."

He said it so simply that everything went quiet again. Sakura looked at him with a dumb expression. "Wha?" Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and repeated himself. "It's Saturday." And she fell down anime style of how calm her companion is. "Ehehe, sorry, stupid of me to forget…" she stuck her tongue out and rubbed the back of her head while sitting on the floor.

Wouldn't you like to know what was running inside the Angelus' mind? Well, he may be stoic on the outside but inside, he's debating with his conscience that is the opposite of him. _"No, she is not cute…" _he told himself but his other ego thought otherwise and he just shut the voice off. "Look, answer the question and I'll be off."

"I don't know how to answer you, maybe because you have this 'I'm-so-great' aura or just the fact that you're anti-social so maybe you talking to me just makes me nervous."

"…That's it?"

"Y-yeah," she said. "Why?"

He shrugged and sat back down. "For a minute there I thought you were one of those mindless girls in school who think of nothing else but snagging a date with me." He smirked at her and she blushed, looking down to avoid his gaze. "I wouldn't mind telling you a few things as long as you keep it a secret."

Sakura's head shot up; was he opening up to her? What a treat! If the other girls found out about this, they'd pay big bucks to get something, anything about this _bishie_. "Deal." She said enthusiastically.

"Alright," he said, closing his eyes. "Did you know that I am responsible for the death of my family? Believe it or not, I merely killed them when I was only nine years old."

_**To be continued…

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_Next on Fallen: Chapter 2: Chosen's Mark_

"You're not just a gifted person, you are mainly the target of every rogue that has escaped the pits of Hell and the gates of Heaven, you are none other than the Chosen, and for that, you must be marked in order for us to protect you."

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_A/N: I posted this to see how many people will actually read it. Hehe. If you're expecting the next chapter up soon, sorry to say but it won't be up anytime this month. Maybe, if I ever get to finish early, I'll post it in the early week of April. Haha! So for those who tell me "Update Soon!", you shall be ignored! Mwahahaha! I'm so evil!  
_


	2. Chosen's Mark

_A/N: So, many aren't too pleased about Fallen not being updated frequently, okay, I'll answer most of your prayers and update a chapter after updating Cold, how's that? Double the treat for my wonderful readers/reviewers! Enjoy this second chapter! BTW, I removed Konoha High, Rainy Days and Haplos because they will be submitted to a fanfiction book here in the Philippines. My brothers were desperate to have fics and asked me to submit. So all in all, I have four fanfics with them. Why four? I have another one that is Taglish, a cross of English and Filipino/Tagalog language. They even asked me to submit Yakuza but I said no because there will be a sequel of it. Yes, good news to those who voted for Yakuza. And to those who are asking, I don't have spring break but I do have summer vacation right now!

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**Fallen**

_Drip… drip… drip…_

Blood continued to flow down from his arms as he eyed the two bodies that lay dead on the floor. He turned to the remaining person alive, a sadistic smirk evident on his facial features as he walked closer to the backing away woman. His clenched fists covered in blood, readied to punch through another human's body, grab the heart and squeeze it until it no longer beats.

_Drip… drip… drip…_

The crimson red substance, so sticky and metallic in taste, so thick and sweet to the tongue of a killer; the killer who has eyes as red as blood, spinning wildly like a wheel; it glared and looked down at the trembling woman whom he once called as mother. He inched closer and closer, stealthily, his footsteps silent, his movements graceful, despite his young age, he was like an expert executioner.

Black wings spread behind his back, stretching and flapping a bit, making celestial feathers fly around the place, landing on the wooden floor as the woman before him eyed him with fear and shock. He opened his mouth to speak; a voice that pretended to be him came sounding in her ears. "Ka-chan…" he said, sounding like his nine year-old self. "What's wrong?" he asked innocently yet his eyes betrayed his purity, a playful grin on his face. "Do you fear me, ka-chan?"

He raised his right hand and formed a fist, his whole body began to get covered in black marks and his smile beginning to grow more sinister than ever. He took another step and readied to punch. The woman snapped from her fear and began to do several hand seals.

"Fuuinjutsu Shiki Fuujin! Seal the demon and protect my son!"

A hooded figure in the image of Death came out, stabbing a sword through the stomach of the woman and piercing it through the nine-year old's body. The child possessed by the demon cried out in pain but as soon as Death pulled back the sword, he took with him the soul of the woman and the demon that possessed her son.

Death faded as soon as he has accomplished his tasks and the woman fell dead, a content smile on her face as her eyelids closed for the last time. The child held onto his wound as his wings slowly engulfed him in a cocoon, his whole body glowing blue and his injury disappearing and healing. He was the only one left alive in the dark room, his wings retreating back inside his body as he slowly lost consciousness and fell forward, very much aware that he has killed his whole family with his bear hands.

* * *

_**Chapter 2: Chosen's Mark**_

She shook from his story as he smirked. "Yeah, my mom killed herself just to save me while I killed my dad and my brother." He got up from his seat and approached her. Sakura looked up at him, her eyes widened to see him activate his sharingan. His hand extended out to her as she shut her eyes, afraid of what he might do.

"Why, you scared?"

All she did was tremble some more when he closed in on her, his warm breath tickling her face as his right hand enclosed itself around her neck, not tight or loose, just something for threatening. "Now we'll see what similarities and differences you have compared to the rest of the girls in school." He stood up when his phone rang and he took it out of his pocket, opening its flap. "What?"

"Rogues are on the loose."

"…"

"Sasuke..?"

"Shit." And he hung up and rushed outside to the front door, stopping and turning his head slightly to Sakura. "Thanks for your help." He said and left her home. He stood outside the door and did a seal, closed his eyes and concentrated, gathering energy ki as his black wings sprouted once again, flapping to get a good warm-up before he took off, following his instincts.

Sakura shook her head a few times before running outside the door and staring at where Sasuke had left. _"What did he mean by similarities and differences?" _she asked herself and locked her front door, running after where the Angelus took off to.

* * *

The Secular growled and whipped its tail across the Demon who was currently fighting it. An Angel came flying towards it with his palm glowing white and plunging his fist against the tough skin of the dragon-like creature. It hissed out and narrowed its yellow eyes at the Angel with white eyes and long hair. "Shikamaru, where the hell is Uchiha?" 

"I already called him but he just cursed and hung up." Said the Hunter, aiming his gun filled with blessed bullets at the rogue demon which kept on clawing at the Angel who ducked and evaded every slash it made with its sharp claws. "Damn this stupid thing!" he muttered, annoyed that he can't get a good aim.

A Secular had bat-like wings that were tattered, a mark on its forehead, a serpent's body, a dragon's head and two arms sprouting from the side with finely sharped claws. Their bites are painful and poisonous. When a Secular's blood touches a normal human being's skin, they can melt from the acidic substance that the purple goo has.

"Oi, lazy-ass, behind you!" cried their Demon companion who was currently bound by the Secular's tail. Shikamaru turned around only to get hit by a rogue Angel's staff. This Crusade was once a devoted warrior of Heaven, also known as Magna Carta, but due to circumstances it has done, it was banned and became a rogue, now known as Crusade.

"That bastard had better get here quick! Rogues can't stand the fire of a Fallen!" the Demon kept yelling and scratching at the Secular's tail. "Hey, Shika, you okay?" the Hunter grumbled in reply. "Just fine…" he murmured and staggered to get up, facing the Crusade. "Holy bullets won't do with this big guy," he placed back his gun in its holster and took out a sword with a blade as black as the night sky. "Naruto, stop yelling and get your butt out of the Secular's tail!" He told the loud and obnoxious Demon at the same time evade the Crusade's attack.

"I'm trying but its grip is just too fucking tight!"

And as soon as he said that, the Secular's tail got cut off, making the Demon fall to the ground and mutter incoherent words. "You should've at least said something bastard!" he yelled at the new comer. Sasuke sighed and turned back to the Secular, gripping onto his katana whose blade has been and blessed and dipped into Holy Water for a whole day. "Dobe, go help Lazy ass with the Crusade, I'll take care of this Secular."

"Yeah, whatever..." Naruto mumbled and flew over to Shikamaru, cracking his knuckles and making his nails grow sharper and his teeth turn into fangs. His once blue eyes turned into a shade of red and his pupil became like that of a fox'. "Maybe having the Kyuubi within me can do me good." He smirked and plunged his claws deep into the Crusade's back as Shikamaru took this as a good opportunity to eliminate the rogue. With a wave of his black-bladed sword, he jumped and stabbed the Crusade right through the heart, making it wince and cry out in pain as it slowly dissolved like powdered milk in warm water.

The Hunter sighed and cleaned the blade that was covered in silver blood. "You know, what are the weapons that Jiraiiya gave us for when you only use your bare hands?" Naruto chuckled and grinned, his eyes, teeth and nails going back to normal. "Well, I sort of left my wrist bracelet at home…" Shikamaru only rolled his eyes and raised his sword as it glowed and returned to the green band that was permanently wrapped around his right wrist. "How can you forget it if it cannot be removed from your wrist you idiot?"

"Alright, so I didn't want to use it, so what?" he said, pointing to the orange one clasped tightly on his wrist. "Neji doesn't use his either…" he muttered, pointing at the Angel who had a white one. Shikamaru looked at Neji and saw him mouth a cursed word. "Baka," he told Naruto. "Neji's weapon is his fists that are coated with lots of energy ki."

"Oh yeah…"

"Geez, what an idiot…"

Neji continued to punch with great agility and speed at the Secular as Sasuke watched and waited for the right opportunity. Seeing an opening at the Secular's chest, he flew straight towards it and pointed his katana, stabbing the heart of the Secular as purple blood sprayed at him, making him look like a mess again. At least Naruto was at the same state as he was, even if the Demon was covered in silver blood.

Just like the Crusade, the rogue Demon dissolved, leaving no trace or whatsoever of its presence. Neji sighed and with a wave of his hands, the glow on it died down. Sasuke swiped at the air, the purple blood sliding off the smooth blade and it returned back to his black wrist bracelet. "It makes me wonder where and how that pervert got these…" the Fallen said out of the blue, eyeing his band on his right. "No complaints there, it makes a good sports accessory." Neji pointed out, smirking at the thing. "At least we don't need to bring any weapons with us."

"By the way, what took you so long bastard?"

Sasuke glared at Naruto and looked away from the three, pocketing his hands and closing his eyes. "None of your business." The blonde teen pouted then grinned. "Ooohhh maybe you were at your girlfriend's house eh? Making out and all! That's probably the reason why you cursed when Shikamaru called you!" Neji looked disgusted and Shikamaru only gazed at the clouds, not minding the beatings that Naruto got from Sasuke who was beat red.

"Sasuke!"

All four heads turned to where the sound came from and saw a pink haired teenager running towards them, panting heavily and clothes stained with dried Secular's blood. Naruto blinked and turned to Sasuke, noticing that he too had purple blood staining his clothes, except for the fresh ones that he just got from today's battle. Naruto's grin grew wider and he loked up at Sasuke who still had his left hand holding onto the blonde's collar and right fist ready to punch. "Oh, I get it, you saved Sakura from a Secular and then started making out!"

And the fist that was stuck in mid-air came in contact with Naruto's jaw. Even though it was painful, the blonde Demon still laughed and pointed at his best friend/rival's face. "Teme, you're blushing! Oh, and is that blood I see trickling down from your nose?" again, another punch but the Demon just wouldn't stop. Neji shook his head as Shikamaru ignored the whole scene, having his eyes staring at the clouds, his dark eyes shining with joy as a fluffy white one came into view. Sakura continued watching Sasuke shaking Naruto and cursing the teasing blonde. She turned to look at Shikamaru then at Neji, then back to Naruto and Sasuke. Her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes widened until she gasped which caught all of the male's attention.

"You… all of you… are the…" all eyes blinked at her. She faced Neji and pointed at him. "You're the Angel from my dream…" she then turned to Naruto. "And you're the Demon there… and…" she looked at Shikamaru who had an eyebrow raised at her. "You were the Hunter… then… that means…" she looked at Sasuke, their eyes locked onto each other as she blushed and so did he, both looking away to avoid each other's gazes. "And you're… the Angelus…"

"What?" Neji asked, eyes narrowed. "You can't be…"

"I've been seeing all four in my dreams ever since I discovered I have a gift," she looked down. "And the older I got, the clearer their faces and outlines were…" Sakura raised her head to look at Sasuke. "You have the ability to make correct intuitions, could you explain how I managed to heal your wound and suck out the poison and why my left collar bone ached?"

Sasuke let go of Naruto and closed his eyes, thinking. Sakura waited patiently for his answer but he didn't seem to give her some. After what seemed like an eternity, he opened his eyes and walked over to her, stopping just two feet away from the girl. He was a head taller though so she felt a bit inferior when he was towering over her. The fact that he gazed intently at her made her more nervous. "Come on," he said, walking pass her.

"Huh?" she blinked and the other three looked at him expectantly. He stopped and didn't turn to face them. "Hyuuga, report back to Jiraiiya and tell him about this, Shikamaru, you and Naruto go check what has been causing rogues to appear all of a sudden, and you," he turned to Sakura. "Come with me."

"He'll probably make out with her again, I'm sure of it!" whispered Naruto to Neji and Shikamaru and when he looked up, a fireball was shot at him, turning him into a crisped Demon. He coughed out smoke and shot a dirty finger at Sasuke who only glared at him with red eyes and his left palm facing the blonde, threatening to shoot another fireball.

"Alright already, I'm going..!" Naruto yelled as he and Shikamaru jumped off to do their researching. Neji gave a respectful bow to Sakura before spreading his white celestial wings and flying to the direction of Jiraiiya's home. Three question marks popped above her head as she looked at where Neji flew off with beady eyes. "Hey forehead, hurry up." He called out and began to walk away as she shook her head to clear her thoughts and ran after him to catch up.

* * *

They reached his apartment and entered the place after taking off their shoes. Sasuke told her to sit down while he'll go and get something for her to change into. She sighed and waited, looking around the living room, glancing at some pictures that were on display. She stopped when she saw one that made her do a double take. It was a picture of Sasuke when he was still a kid and he was with someone whom she never thought would be this close to him. "K-Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yeah, he took me in when I killed my family."

She nearly jumped when Sasuke's voice answered her. Sakura caught the set of clothes he threw at her and blinked. He had already changed into a long-sleeved grey shirt and black pants. "The bathroom's upstairs, my room door is open so go ahead." He said, walking to the kitchen. She climbed the steps, looked for his room and went inside it to get changed. _"I should've changed before I ran after him…" _she thought, looking down at the clothes she now wore. "Loose but comfy," she said, taking a whiff of his shirt. "Smells like him too." She giggled. It was a white top and baggy pants but she didn't bother to complain and walked back down the stairs carrying her dirty uniform.

"I'll take that!" she yelped when Kakashi appeared out of nowhere with his mask still on and a white apron over his black long-sleeved shirt and navy blue pants. "I'm off to do the laundry so might as well get yours cleaned too Sakura."

"S-sensei..?"

"Sasuke's in the kitchen, it's his turn to cook lunch." And the adult disappeared into a room where she saw a washing machine and dryer making rumbling noises which meant that it was doing its job of washing and drying clothes. Blinking, she turned around and went inside the kitchen, smelling the sizzling meat that was being cooked on a Teflon pan. "I didn't know you could cook…" she muttered to herself, forgetting that he was a half-breed who had good hearing. "You never asked." He shot back, not taking his eyes off of the pan. Sakura blinked and looked at him. "Alright, explain."

"Later." He said, adding a few spices on the meat. "Do you mind setting the table? The plates are in the cupboards and the chopsticks are in the drawers." Sakura shrugged and began to grab the said items and turned back to him. "Where are the glasses?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Kakashi bought canned drinks earlier."

Nodding, she sat down on one chair and rested her cheek on one of her palms, looking straight ahead, not seeming to care whether it was a basket of fruits she was staring at. She began to think of a few things, trying to search her brain for something that kept nagging at her that she forgot.

"So Sakura," Kakashi said, stepping foot into the kitchen floor and removing the white apron. He smiled when he saw her look up at him with a bored expression. "How are you doing as a florist and student?" she blinked then yelled. "Oh no! I forgot! I didn't go to work yesterday! Oh crap, oba-chan will be furious! What should I do? Wah! I'm so gonna get fired!" she cried waterfall tears and Kakashi chuckled. "Now why would you forget to go to work?"

Sakura turned to Sasuke who was still busy cooking vegetables this time, and minding his own business. _"I can't tell sensei that Sasuke is an Angelus and that he was fighting a Secular! Humans react and treat half-breeds differently…" _she tried to think of what to say when Kakashi sat down in front of her. "You know," he said. "I teach in Sugo-Shizen High, I am yours and Sasuke's teacher, therefore, I know that he is a half-breed and that you also have a special power."

"_Oh yeah…" _she kicked her self mentally for forgetting about that. "Sasuke just fought with a Secular using, as far as I can remember, Raikiri to kill it and he saved my life but then he got bitten by the Secular which meant he got poisoned and I healed him so now I'm here asking him to explain what is happening and you are giving a very dangerous glare at Sasuke and grabbing a cooking utensil that is metal and then whacking Sasuke repeatedly as he keeps crying out in pain and-" she stopped from her fast-paced talking and watched as Kakashi scolded the teen. _"Whoa… how many times have I spaced out and began narrating?" _she asked herself.

"You idiot, I told you not to use Raikiri unless you're fighting with a lot of Seculars or Crusades! Stop wasting your chakra on one!" and again, Kakashi hit Sasuke on the head. The Fallen glared at the adult. "Will you stop twacking me with a damn metal spatula!" he yelled. They both heard a giggle and turned to Sakura who was laughing at them. "And what is so damn funny Haruno?" the half-breed asked, crossing his arms and waiting for a reply. "You two are…" she answered, giving a big grin.

"Oh well, let's forget about that and eat." Kakashi said, getting three bowls of steaming rice and setting it on the table while Sasuke grumbled, taking a seat beside his classmate. "What do you want to drink Sakura?" their teacher asked, poking his head inside the fridge. "We've got beer, vodkha…"

"Kakashi…" Sasuke muttered.

"Just kidding, but honestly, we have beer." The silver haired man chuckled when the girl just stared beady eyed at him. "We also have orange juice, coke and water, then we have lemonade…"

"I think water would be good…" Sakura said, a sweat drop rolling down at the back of her head as her seatmate sighed irritably. Kakashi laughed and took out a pitcher of water and set down three glasses. "Sorry about that, I just love annoying Sasuke."

"Like hell you do…" the said teen murmured and took a sip from his beverage. "Yosh!" Kakashi said. "Let's eat!" and all three snapped their chopsticks to eat. They began to talk and share a few stories they know but Sasuke only chose to listen and would comment occasionally. It was Kakashi and Sakura who did most of the talking and laughing while he did the smirking and mocks. Later on, when they were done, Sakura volunteered to do the dishes since Kakashi was still going to sweep the floor upstairs. He told Sasuke to help the girl out and he unwillingly accepted. Oh well, he was going to explain to her what was happening so this is already a good time to start.

"Um… can you… tell me now?" she asked, rinsing the used plates and utensils while Sasuke dried and returned them. "What do you want to know?" he asked back. "Everything, from why you, Naruto, Shikamaru and..?"

"Neji."

"And Neji, fight rogues. Isn't that job meant for experienced and adult Hunters?"

"True, but rogues today have evolved and gotten a lot stronger. Compared to the past, they can't be easily brought down with mere weapons, you have to do some skills and techniques."

"Is Kakashi-sensei a half-breed too?"

"…"

"Sasuke..?"

"No."

She looked at him, blinking. "He's the one that my mom summoned," his eyes narrowed at this as he stopped with wiping a glass. "Hatake Kakashi is… Death…" she nearly dropped the plate she was holding if she didn't catch it in time. "You mean…"

"Yes and No." he answered. "He was summoned from Hellarios, a place known as Hell, my mom summoned him in order to save me from the possession of a demon, her last request was to protect and raise me, so Kakashi did. He wasn't a servant; he was a close friend. Yes he is really Death, no, he isn't a normal human being, he's what you would say, immortal."

"Is he aware of it?"

"Aa," his bangs shadowed his eyes at this. "Kakashi is my step-dad, my tutor, my trainer. He knows what I do and where I go most of the time, he knows what I am capable of, he is close to being called a family, he's the only family I've got, just how Naruto has Iruka-sensei."

"And Iruka-sensei, is he…"

"He isn't human, he's the opposite of Kakashi."

Sakura looked down at this. "So Kakashi-sensei is Death while Iruka-sensei is Life." She repeated. "How did Iruka-sensei come here?" he shrugged. "I've heard from the dobe that he was called by Naruto's father, just like how my mom summoned Kakashi." He sighed and placed back the glass he was holding. "Sakura,"

"…Hm?"

"Don't tell anyone about this." He said, looking at her. "Promise me that."

She looked back in his onyx eyes and nodded. "Okay." She said. "Now tell me how I was able to heal you without me knowing and why did…" she placed a hand over her left collarbone. "…this ache?" they finished cleaning up and now sat across each other on the dining chairs.

Sasuke's phone beeped and he opened the message he received from Shikamaru. "Sakura,"

"Yeah?"

"Listen to me carefully because I won't be repeating this, and you have to accept this fact even if it sounds unbelievable."

"…?"

"You're not just a gifted person, you are mainly the target of every rogue that has escaped the pits of Hell and the gates of Heaven, you are none other than the Chosen, and for that, you must be marked in order for us to protect you."

"M-marked?" she asked.

"Yes, the dream you had, it is a sign that means Judgement Day is coming closer, the four of us are the ones destined to protect you, being the Chosen one." he sighed and ran a hand through his hair as she bit her bottom lip and asked again. "What caused these things?"

"In ancient times, a war between Heaven and Hell started and has been on going even up until now. After a short battle, an Angel that was favored by many searched the area for any injured pure-breeds. She found a Demon who was injured severely and helped him to sit up. As expected, the Demon refused her help and tried to shove her away but she only smiled and healed his wounds. Startled and in disbelief, he asked her why she did so and her reply…"

* * *

"_I am an Angel, no matter what or who you are, even if we aren't from the same race, it is still my duty and nature to help those who are in need."_

_The Demon looked away from her, embarrassed in the presence of an Angel as beautiful as her. She only smiled and took his arm, healing the wounds he had there. More battles came and she always looked for him to heal his wounds. She told him how the leader of the Angels favored her and gave her a very extraordinary gift to heal anything. The more times they met, the more closer they got until they secretly went out at night to see each other, soon, the Demon confessed his love for her and she returned his feelings. _

_Unfortunately, the leaders of both Demons and Angels found out about this and tore them apart, but, they found out that the female Angel was pregnant, so instead of killing her, they banned her from heaven, cutting some parts of her wings for her not to fly back. The Demons tortured the one who had an affair with an Angel and broke his horns and tail, burnt his bat wings for him to never go back to Hell. _

_It would've been all good if the war didn't happen again. The Demon blocked an attack meant for her, taking away his life. When the battle stopped, she cried and concentrated her energy in order to resurrect her lover, when she did, she only had little energy left. She gave birth to a baby boy and transferred her healing abilities to it as the Demon gave some of his own. The baby had black celestial wings, the ability to heal and the strength of his dad. The three of them decided to live among the humans, hiding their wings and powers, pretending to be normal, adopting human names. They decided to have "Uchiha" as their surname.

* * *

_

"…That's why our clan is a history of Fallens, I may be the only Fallen left since I killed my family, I don't know about the others who are somewhere out there, but now you know why the race of Angelus is so rare. Also, I have the ability to heal my wounds and only mine. But I can't when I am poisoned, which is why I wasn't able to heal myself when the Secular bit me." He sighed, not used to talking so much.

"So, the start of a Fallen is actually a cross between an Angel and Demon."

"Yeah, as long as there are Angels and Demons living, somewhere in between, there will be a new generation of my kind."

"So, what about the mark?"

Sasuke got up and turned towards the door that leads to the living room. "Kakashi, whatever you do, don't enter." He called out. From the other side of the door, Kakashi muttered a "yeah" and continued to clean the whole place. _"Damn, he's getting better and better everyday." _thought the pure-breed, grinning proudly at his adopted son's improvement.

Sakura looked at him with a confused expression when he stepped closer to her and pulled her up. She stood in front of him, blinking as he began to close his eyes and concentrated chakra in his whole body. She wondered what he was up to when his black wings came out from his back, wrapping the two of them in it. Her green eyes widened when he looked at her with his Sharingan activated and when he touched her left collar bone. "This could hurt a bit…" he warned and pulled the collar of her shirt to the left, giving him access to her collar bone. She gasped and blushed, not knowing what he was up to until he lowered his head and bit onto the part of her neck above her left collar bone. She flinched at this and gripped onto his shirt as the stinging sensation she felt the other day came back.

Slowly, a mark appeared on her left collar bone and she tried to suppress the urge to cry out in pain. Her grip onto his shirt tightened yet he still didn't step back. After what seemed like an eternity, Sasuke finally stopped and retracted his wings, panting slightly as sweat trickled down his forehead. She held onto where the mark was and her eyelids felt heavy. Quickly catching his breath, he caught her as she began to stagger and fall forward. "I transferred some of my powers to you, this way, you can outrun rogues when you're in danger, I just needed to activate your mark, now, whoever hurts you will die." He whispered as she slowly gave into darkness, his onyx eyes the last thing she saw.

"Can I come in now?" Kakashi entered even without waiting for Sasuke's answer. He eyed the two teens as Sasuke carried Sakura into his arms and looked up at him. "So, she's the Chosen one?" Sasuke gave a nod and headed out of the kitchen. "Rogues are after her, she's the one who can fulfill world peace or pure chaos, she's the balance of Hellarios and Magna Carta."

Kakashi nodded at this and followed him up the stairs and into his room where Sasuke lay the unconscious Sakura on his bed, pulling the covers over her and looking down at her sleeping face. He brushed away a few stray bangs from her brow, watching her inhale and exhale. His hands moved to where her mark was, closed his eyes and tried to at least help ease the pain she was feeling.

"If I didn't know you better," Kakashi said, leaning on the door frame and watching his adopted son. "I'd say you have feelings for Sakura." He expected the teen to glare at him but all he did was stand up straight and pocket his hands. "What are you talking about Kakashi?" he looked at the older man over his left shoulder with a stern look. "I have no time for such feelings called love, not even a mere crush will do." A sigh escaped Death's lips as he turned his back on the Fallen, waving a dismissive hand and started walking away. "Whatever you say Sasuke, whatever you say…"

Sasuke turned back to Sakura, his gaze lingering on her calm and serene face before turning around to leave the room. _"Love… che, useless feeling…" _he thought, closing the door behind him. Unknown to him though, there was a Secular that just appeared right outside, looking at the direction of his room's window, particularly gazing at the sleeping girl on his bed.

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Fallen: Chapter 3: Blood Lust_

Her eyes widened when she saw him give a smirk, a look that told you he was craving for blood to be spilled. It scared her. It reminded her of his story of how he killed his family mercilessly. She didn't want him to be a sadistic killer; she didn't want him like this, all covered with markings, sharingan activated and a look that wanted blood. She feared this side of him. This wasn't the man she fell for, this wasn't Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

_A/N: Let's enhance your vocabulary! **Hellarios** is another term of Hell. **Magna Carta **is Heaven. **Angelus **and **Fallen **are one and the same, **Fallen **is merely a slang or nickname. **Seculars **are **Rogue Demons **while **Crusades **are **Rogue Angels**. **Death **as in Angel of Death/Darkness and **Life **as in Angel of Life/Light; I hope I've clarified everything. And about the wrist band thing? Sasuke has black, Naruto has orange, Neji has white and Shikamaru has green. Why do they hav those when they have powers? It merely saves their chakra in case a lot of rogues appear. They're like magic, you summon out a weapon you need. Naruto preferably uses his demon form(Kyuubi) but his weapon would be a double bladed staff, one side for **Seculars** and the other for **Crusades**. Neji has his fists as his weapon. It glows a bright white light. Shikamaru has a dark blade for rogue angels and a holy gun for rogue demons while Sasuke has a katana for the rogues. **Half-breeds **have human blood and supernatural ones like Sasuke and company.** Pure-breeds **no human blood in them like Kakashi or Iruka.  
_


	3. Blood Lust

_A/N: Did I leave such a good cliffie? Haha! Fine, here's chapter 3! **Note: This fic contains the pair KakashixIruka, in other words, Yaoi. **Sorry for Anti-Yaoi fans, I'm doing this for my friend.

* * *

_

**Fallen**

What was this feeling he suddenly had? It was weird, something he had never felt before. His dark eyes looked down onto the eyes he never thought he'd fall for. It looked back at him lovingly and so did he as he neared it, closer and closer, until-

_Scratch!_

What will he do without his mask on? Kakashi sighed when he saw the cat running away from him. He imagined that it was probably snickering at him for being so naïve to fall for those adorable eyes. He cursed it and walked back inside the house. He was done taking out the trash and he just spotted the cat, it was cute but now, after it scratched him, he thought otherwise.

Luckily, he was Death himself, so his wound healed as it came. But still, when he entered the house, he felt something bad was about to happen. Sasuke came down the stairs, rather, he was standing there, looking at the distance, until his eyes closed as if in deep thinking. Kakashi walked over to him and felt a dark aura. Eyes widening, he turned to Sasuke only to see him run back upstairs. A Secular has entered the house, it was in the teen's room, and it was after Sakura.

* * *

_**Chapter 3: Blood Lust**_

_Crash!_

"Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura tried to break free from the grasp the Secular had around her body. She woke up all of a sudden when she heard the window break and a Secular's claw reach out and grabbed her. Now, she was yelling at it and calling her classmate and teacher who soon came inside the room as she was pulled out by the rogue, just when her hand was about to touch Sasuke's outstretched one as well.

"_Shit! I was so close!" _he cursed in his mind. Everything seemed like slow motion when he entered his room with a loud bang and dived straight at Sakura to try and grab her hand. He almost did so if the damn Secular didn't pull her away. _"Fucking demon!" _he cursed again and looked outside the window to see the rogue flapping its tattered wings and going straight to where he supposed was school and he could hear Sakura screaming. He stepped back and closed his eyes, his wings appeared and he jumped out of the window, flying after the rogue demon. Kakashi watched them before sending a telepathic message to his counterpart, Life.

"_Iruka, a Secular has Sakura and Sasuke's tailing them. Its going to the school so if you're still there, please prevent it from opening the gates of Hellarios." _

He got an "okay" from Iruka and he too, made his wings appear. Same as Sasuke's except he had a raven's feathers. His father, who was Death as well, had a crow's wings but he had a raven's. It didn't differ much so he didn't bother asking about it and just flew after his two students. Now that the Chosen has been revealed, things can no longer go smoothly.

* * *

"Let go of me!" she yelled, pounding on the claws that wrapped around her. She thought of biting it but after remembering that they had tough and dirty scales, and had purple blood, she cringed in disgust. 

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

Sakura saw fireballs shoot at the rogue and stay stuck on its body. Squinting, she saw that they were kunai hidden in the flames and the Secular's grip on her loosened as she fell and got caught by Sasuke who stopped following the rogue and immediately flew down. When both reached the ground, he engulfed the two of them in his wings as an explosion erupted.

Bits of rocks and other objects came flying towards them but his wings protected and prevented them from getting hurt. Once it had stopped, he slowly got up and turned to where the Secular was, only to see the smoke clear and show nothing but air. _"Shit." _And when he turned to his right, a huge tail threw him backwards, making him slam against a tree. He grunted and coughed out blood then glared at the Secular which returned the gaze and then shifted to Sakura who got up and backed away from the creature banned from Hell.

"Crap," Sasuke muttered and got up, ignoring the searing pain that shot through his back. _"If I don't do something soon, the gates of Hell will open and chaos will ensue…" _he still needed to wait for the others, but this is just a single rogue, he can handle this. _"Damn, if only I didn't transfer _that_ many chakra into her, I should be able to end this fight soon." _He thought hard, what _did_ make him so worried when she was in pain? He shook it off and did a few hand seals. _"Sorry Death," _he thought and held onto his left wrist. _"But this is for the sake of the world and the Chosen." _And he ran towards the Secular, aiming for its head. "Raikiri!"

He felt his hand plunge through the head of the creature and grasp on the brain within its skull. Angrily, he crushed it and earned an ear-splitting scream from the rogue until it dissolved, disappearing within seconds. He bent down, panting. It was much worse than Zabuza's whole day basketball training. He flinched when he felt his back ache from the impact he had with the tree. Somehow, he thinks he broke a few bones, nothing major but still painful.

"Sorry…"

Sasuke turned his head to her and raised a brow, wondering why she was apologizing. It wasn't her fault that she was the Chosen, it wasn't her choice anyway, it was her destiny, and he was sure she didn't want it. "What for, it's not your fault." He muttered, placing a hand over his own mark and avoiding her gaze. She stared at his back and walked over to him, closed her eyes and placed her hand over his back. He nearly jumped from the contact but soon relaxed when he no longer felt his body aching.

"You know, I could've healed myself..." he said and sighed. "Why did you apologize?"

"I meant for causing you pain," she murmured. "I don't know why but I have a tendency to have others get hurt because of me and I hate myself for it." He sighed and placed a hand on top of her pink locks as she blinked continuously while looking up at him. "Don't be," he said and retrieved his hand back to his side before turning to Kakashi who finally reached them.

"Got held back by another rogue, a Crusade by the way…"

"Hn."

* * *

She slammed her locker door, quite angry at the fact that someone else had gotten the attention of her crush. Her blue eyes glared at the couple who just entered the school, talking about a few things and not seeming to mind the eyes that watched them. She knew that he was a half-breed but so was she, yet how come some normal girl got his attention instead of her? Furious, she left for her classroom, deciding that she will never give up until the day he dumps the girl and goes to her. 

Of course, he didn't fail to notice this but like he does to the rest of the jealous girls, he ignored it. He never did like any of his fans, and he knew that the one beside him was one of them yet she wasn't the type to scream at his ear and go flaunting and hugging him daringly, which is why he was thankful that she became the Chosen. "So, you're telling me that I can't go off on my own and that from now on, I have to either stay with you and Kakashi-sensei or you have to stay with me in my house?"

He nodded. "That's what melanin-less hair said." Sakura punched him playfully on the arm and he smirked while she giggled. "What, it's true? He lacks melanin." She stuck her tongue out at him. "And you think he's the only one who doesn't have normal colored hair?" Sasuke blinked and ruffled her hair, disheveling her usual half-pony style. "Gah! Sasuke!" he smirked at her and she just sighed and tried desperately to fix her hair. His hand stopped her though and she blushed from the contact. "I think it would be better if you just let it down." And right when he said that, he pulled the ribbon off and watched her waist length hair flow down. "Suits you." And he left her there, staring at him with pure shock and a red face. "I'm leaving you." He warned and she snapped from her thoughts and ran after him.

"I don't really get you Sasuke," she said as they reached the classroom. "Sometimes, you can be a real ice block and then at times you're not so cold." He only ignored what she said but inside his mind, he was wondering that too. _"Could it have something to do with that Demon that tried to take over my soul?" _he had to blame that guy, even though his mom sealed him away, Sasuke still had a feeling that the Demon was within him.

"Yo, Sasuke, Sakura!" Naruto waved when the duo entered the room. Some turned to Sakura, obviously surprised to see her with her hair down and not in her usual styles. Some were shocked seeing her with the anti-social Sasuke. She shifted uncomfortably under their gazes and continued following her seatmate to Naruto who grinned at them. "You two alright? I heard that rogues attacked."

"Yeah, how did your research go?"

"Lazy bum and I had a difficult time but we figured that she's the reason of their sudden appearances, and why they just keep attacking or popping out of nowhere." The blonde Demon sighed and whispered to his friend. "Crusades and Seculars are teaming up with Hellarium." Sasuke's eyes dilated in anger upon hearing that. Hellarium was the name given to the rulers of Seculars in hell and he had a vague feeling that that Head Demon was the one who craved for an Angelus' powers. "Is it confirmed?" he asked. Naruto shook his head. "Neji's onto it though and his Hunter girlfriend is helping him out in college so no worries."

"Does Ten-Ten even know about the whole event?" he asked, glancing at Sakura who continued to smile nervously at the deadly glares she got from girls. Naruto nodded his head to say yes. "Hyuuga told her himself." The remaining Uchiha gave a nod and turned to Sakura as a vein popped on the side of his head when the girls who "love" him were still glaring at her. Without thinking, he placed an arm around Sakura and pulled her closer while returning the evil gazes to the girls. "Back off." He warned and took Sakura with him to their seats.

"Look, when we're here in school, don't wander off on your own; even if you're the Chosen, there are still pure-breeds or half-breeds here that can easily take you down, especially in your current state. And I'm warning you, stay away from _her_." He said, eyeing their female blonde classmate who was wiping her kunai clean; two X's can be seen on the backside of her palms. "She's a pure Hunter, her brother was cursed and is a pure-breed Demon while her other brother who has… kabuki paint on his face is also a pure-breed Hunter."

"The Sand siblings..?" she asked, gulping when the blonde girl sensed Sakura's eyes on her and turned to look at the pink-haired teen and gave a smirk. Sakura shuddered and rested her head on her desk. "Why do people hate me..?" Sasuke snorted and turned his head away, muttering an "I don't" but Sakura had heard it. However, since his eyes were shifted to the view outside, she only gave a smile and a slight tint of pink across her cheeks. "Thanks…" she said softly, not knowing that her heartthrob seatmate heard it and had given a smile, a sincere one at that.

* * *

"Alright, solve this problem in your notebook and I'll call for someone to answer later." Asuma, their math teacher, said. Sasuke sighed and quickly finished his then turned to look outside the window once again. 

His eyes narrowed when he saw a flash of white wings and long hair and it was flying towards him. _"Is that..?" _he nearly fell of the chair when his guess was correct. Heading towards their schools was none other than his friend, Hyuuga Neji and in his arms was his girlfriend, the Hunter or Huntress, Ten-Ten. "Uchiha!" Neji yelled and Sasuke got up, startling Asuma who was teaching a student who didn't get the lesson.

"Uchiha, may I ask what is wrong?"

Sasuke didn't answer and just opened the window, startling everyone inside the room. Naruto and Shikamaru knew immediately what he was up to so they both got up as well and looked outside the window. Sasuke squint his eyes and saw a bigger creature chasing his friend so he cursed and turned to Sakura who looked up at him with a questioning look. He took hold of one of her wrists and dragged her outside the room, running. "Uchiha, Haruno!" Asuma called but Shikamaru and Naruto shushed him and rushed outside the window. Everyone watched and saw what caused them to act so strange. There was a Crusade tailing Neji and Ten-Ten.

* * *

"S-Sasuke, what's wrong?" She asked, trying to get out of his grip but he only tightened it and she flinched. "Y-you're hurting me." She choked and he stopped, let go of her and scooped her in his arms. "Guess I have to carry you then." He said and before she could say anything, he ran towards the school's rooftop and jumped. At first, she thought he was insane but when her eyes caught sight of his wings, she gave a sigh of relief. 

"Look, a Crusade is coming and you can't stay inside the classroom or else it'll put others in danger." He said and flew towards a forestry place. "Hopefully we'll be safe here. I can't exactly have another fight until my chakra has been completely restored, otherwise…" he trailed off, recalling what had happened the last time he fought when his energy ki hasn't been back to normal.

"What will happen?"

"You don't want to know…" he said and put her down, leaned on a tree and closed his eyes. "It takes a long time for me to regenerate when I transfer half of my energy to someone else." She only nodded and sat down, drawing her knees towards her chest and hugging it as she began to think some things while her crush was just standing beside her. "Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hn,"

"I'm not sure if you remember, but back in first year," she blushed a bit as he looked down at her. "Thanks for… saving me from those bullies." She gave a smile and turned to him, their eyes gazing at each other. "And I just want you to know that… I really appreciate it, I wasn't someone you know too well, yet you still stood up for me…" in his mind, he was telling himself to look away, something about her gaze just made him feel lost and he hated the feeling that was surging inside him, a feeling which he cannot explain or understand.

Without knowing, he was slowly leaning down to her while she was wondering what he was up to. In his mind, he was asking himself to stop whatever his body was doing but stubbornly, he inched closer to her, closed his eyes and when he was just a mere centimeter away from her lips, he snapped his eyes open and tackled Sakura to the ground, just in time when a staff of a Crusade swung at where their heads were once earlier.

"_Shit! That's why I hate these feelings, I get lost!" _

They both got up with Sasuke pushing Sakura behind him as he glared at the Crusade who held onto its staff and looked back at him with the same gaze. _"What happened to those idiots?" _he asked, not believing that Neji and the others weren't able to stop the Crusade, that is, if this was the same Crusade that tried to get the Chosen. _"I can't fight yet, otherwise…" _his right hand touched his mark at his back left side of the neck and flinched a bit when it began to sting. _"…I might lose my mind…" _

Clenching his fists, he had no idea what to do, and he had no choice but to keep evading the attacks the rogue before him was giving. _"Damn it! Every single damn day, there's always a rogue to ruin it!" _he thought and blocked the Crusade's staff with his right arm. He held onto the staff with his left and flipped his body so that he could stand on the long stick and glare at the banned Angel. _"I guess I have to do hand-to-hand combat to be on the safe and tough side." _And he ran head on towards the Crusade and gave a hard kick on its head and did a back flip, landing on the ground in a half-kneeling position. He eyed the damage he caused and saw the creature wipe away silver blood that came from its mouth. He smirked when it tried to return the painful attack he gave. _"Those four had better hurry…" _he thought, feeling his mark starting to sting. "Shit." He cursed and got distracted from the pain he felt when the Crusade quickly rammed the teen on a tree and poked him with the end of his staff, hard.

He coughed out blood and tried to struggle free from the way it pinned him on the tree. It was big and he had a hard time to escape, especially since the pang the mark was giving him wasn't helping at all. Sakura had had enough of just standing there and watching him get beaten up. She bent down and picked up a rock and threw it at the Crusade's head and started insulting it. "Weakling, coward! You're only pinning him there because you know you don't stand a chance against him! You're such a scaredy-cat!"

"_Oh, hell no, she did not just insult a rogue…" _but it did help him since the staff left his gut and he staggered to get up. His ears heard a shriek from her and when he turned, he saw that the Crusade had grasped her small and frail body and was squeezing the life out of her. His onyx eyes looked at her as she continued to kick and punch and the rogue just making it harder for her to breathe. She didn't want to cry in pain but not everyone can ease everything so she cried out, triggering Sasuke to activate his sharingan and his mark spreading all over his body and black celestial wings sprout from his back. "Let go of her." He said in a dangerous tone, glaring menacingly at the Crusade that turned to face him, startled to see him in his full Fallen mode.

Sakura opened an eye to see him emit dark aura, his glare enough to send those who see it running home; it meant a look that could kill and she felt fear conquer her. _"S-Sasuke..?" _and when she blinked, he was no longer where he was previously standing on but heard his voice yell out a technique as flames engulfed the Crusade and its hold on her loosen. She fell to the ground and scrambled away at the burning rogue. She heard noises from the bushes and saw another Crusade and a Secular looking at her with intense interest. _"Oh no, not again…" _and without thinking, she got up and ran away from the two rogues.

She failed to notice an uprooted tree that she tripped over it and shook her head after the impact. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the Secular's teeth ready to bite her but stopped when it was only a few feet away. Green eyes followed where the ex-Demon glared at and saw Sasuke, holding onto its tail with the same dangerous look. "Stay away." And what she assumed were nylon strings, Sasuke had tied the thin ropes around the creature's body and bound it so tightly, like a boa constrictor does to its prey. "Die." And with one pull of his string, it dug deep into the skin of the Secular and had chunks of its body scattered around the forest, some on trees and purple blood can be seen everywhere. He then turned to the Crusade and gave a very un-Sasuke like smirk.

"S-Sasuke..?"

"Relax Sakura," he said, his tone of voice sending her chills. What's bad about it is that it didn't make her blush or squeal; instead, it made her tremble. "I'm going to kill these bastards." And what surprised her was how he managed to do Raikiri on both hands and he charged towards the Crusade with a look that says he would enjoy killing everything that harms her or gets in his way.

* * *

"Damn, you're heavy!" Naruto said while he was carrying Shikamaru on his back, his demonic wings having a hard time to keep up with Neji's pace. "Oi, slow down will 'ya?" Neji told him to shut up and the Demon only muttered something under his breath. "Are you sure we're heading the right way?" Ten-Ten asked who was still in Neji's arms. "Yeah, and I bet that the Crusade we just killed was a high level one, I'm also guessing that the three rogues we saw earlier are of the same level and are headed towards where Sasuke and Sakura took off." 

"In that case," Shikamaru said. "We better hurry, Sasuke is still in the process of regeneration and if he ends up fighting those three at the same time, there'll be blood lust." His two male friends had sweated at the mention of it. Last they heard, when their marks spread all over their body, it would be a very painful trip to the hospital if you try to stop the one going berserk. _"Especially if this is Sasuke we're talking about…" _Neji added in his thoughts, recalling the last time his Angelus friend had activated his mark.

Naruto's fox instincts kicked-in when he smelled the familiar scent of a Crusade and Secular's blood, plus an overwhelming surge of chakra being emitted from where they're heading. His blue eyes widened with fear when he realized it was his best friend's. "Neji…" he said, looking at the college student. "I know, we have to hurry." And the two flyers quickly flew towards the forest.

* * *

A growl erupted from the dying Crusade as Sasuke advanced towards it. When he performed his lighting edge, he didn't kill the rogue soon, instead, he had tortured it like a psychotic killer would to his victims. The ex-Angel had sensed his great amount of chakra and began to back away slowly, silver blood flowing freely from its wounds. The Angelus stopped and looked at the rogue calmly, too calm for its liking and later on, his hand which held the Raikiri had plunged straight through its forehead, silver blood covering his whole arms. 

He felt another presence of a Secular that had just come out from the gates of Hell and was now desiring and lusting for a human's blood, preferably the Fallen's blood. Its mouth was watering and its sharp teeth ready to rip off meat or flesh. Sakura shivered from fright and slowly looked at Sasuke, seeing his bangs shadowing his eyes and the markings still all over his body. When he looked up, she grew more scared.

Her eyes widened when she saw him give a smirk, a look that told you he was craving for blood to be spilled. It scared her. It reminded her of his story of how he killed his family mercilessly. She didn't want him to be a sadistic killer; she didn't want him like this, all covered with markings, sharingan activated and a look that wanted blood. She feared this side of him. This wasn't the man she fell for, this wasn't Uchiha Sasuke.

"Teme, don't!"

Neji and the gang had finally arrived but was a little too late when Sasuke had made a mad dash towards the new arrival and the Secular was also running towards him. The blonde Demon watched in horror to see his best friend being a sadist once again. He turned to Neji who was rooted to the spot, afraid that if he made a move, he would die. Shikamaru was in no better position as he fell to his knees and stared wide-eyed. He thought that he will never see this side of the Uchiha again but he was wrong. Whoever triggered this mode of his would probably be none other than Sakura.

"N-Neji, you have to do something!" Ten-Ten cried, shaking her boyfriend. The Hyuuga only shook his head and turned to Sakura. "You have to stop him," the Chosen looked up at him with an "are-you-serious" look and he only nodded. "You're the only one who can, trust me, even Kakashi won't be able to stop his berserk mode."

"But… why me?"

"You're the Chosen, you have the power to do it, more over, he has a soft spot for you."

Sakura averted her eyes back to Sasuke, seeing him continue to torment the dying rogue. Staggering to get up, she walked over to him with difficulty, extending out her hand to touch him, but she was scared. "S-Sasuke…" she choked when he turned to her, an evil smirk on his lips as she brought her hand to her chest and tried hard not to shake. "Please… stop…"

"Why should I?" he asked, now fully facing her, his smirk turning into a frown. "You're in my way." And when he was about to attack, Naruto had dived right at him and held onto him, ignoring the punches the teen gave. "Shikamaru, Ten-Ten, get Sakura out of here, Neji, go call Kakashi, I'll- I'll hold him off!"

"Let go of me dead-last!"

The two Hunters grabbed Sakura and pulled her away from the two as Neji quickly sped off to wherever Death was, trying so hard to send a telepathic message to the silver-haired man. He prayed for him to come, if not, at least Iruka will do. "Hyuuga-san!" he looked up and saw Life and Death flying over to him with worried looks. Kakashi looked at him directly. "Where's Sasuke?" and Neji led them to the scene.

* * *

"Snap out of it Sasuke!" Naruto yelled and for once, thanked the Heavens when he saw Neji return with Kakashi and Iruka who both rushed to them. Iruka took Naruto and Kakashi held Sasuke down as the Fallen kept struggling. "Sasuke, stop it, don't do this!" Kakashi yelled but the teen kept trashing about. The adult narrowed his eyes and gave a deep sigh. "You leave me no choice," he said and told Iruka to hold him down as he made a few seals. "Fuuja Houin!" and before he knew it, Sasuke had started to grit his teeth and shut his eyes as he tried to suppress the urge to yell out in pain. His marks slowly returning back to where it came from as a seal appeared around it, temporarily stopping it from becoming active once again. 

"Iruka, do it."

"A-Aa…" The Angel of Life did a couple of different hand seals and placed his palm over Sasuke's forehead who was slowly loosing consciousness. "What is he doing?" Naruto asked Neji who watched the two perform their task. "He's draining his chakra so that he can sleep and regenerate in peace. It takes two days and a half for a Hunter to regain his/her level of chakra loss, it takes us, an Angel and Demon, one and a half days to be back in tip top shape and it takes a Fallen one whole day to be in perfect condition without the mark acting up. If we don't recharge, we could end up going berserk and just kill almost anything or anyone we see."

"Is… that what happened… to him… when he was… nine?" the two half-breeds turned to Sakura who just came back, followed by Shikamaru and Ten-Ten who was panting. Neji narrowed his eyes at this. "You shouldn't be here." Her green eyes returned the same look and she asked sternly. "Is that how he killed his family?" No one answered until Kakashi turned to her and shook his head. "This was nothing compared to how he killed his family. Remember this Sakura, every half-breed has two things that makes them have a reputation to be feared. One is what happened to Sasuke right now, his mark acted up when he saw you in danger, the other…" he trailed off, not wanting to continue so Iruka did it for him. "The other is being possessed by Hellarium, the head of Seculars. He targets half-breeds for they are easy to possess, and his interest landed on Sasuke when he was born."

"But why him..?"

"Sharingan," Kakashi said. "He owns a unique skill that can foresee or predict the move of the opponent, can hypnotize a victim and most of all, can copy any kind of attack, except of course other special abilities." He sighed and carried his adopted son on his back.

"Isn't there a way to prevent _that_ from happening again?" she asked, glancing at Sasuke's unconscious body. "Isn't there anything I can do to make sure this doesn't happen again?" Kakashi sighed at this and shook his head. "No, there is nothing you can do to stop an out of control half-breed. Be warned Sakura, don't stay too close to Sasuke, or any of your four guardians when they suddenly touch their mark. It's a sign that the full-mode of a half-breed is about to be activated."

"Naruto, Shikamaru, go back to Sugo-Shizen High." He instructed the two and turned to the two nineteen-year olds. "Neji, Ten-Ten, head back to your university." And the four left them. Kakashi turned to Sakura and put Sasuke down. "Sakura, take care of him for a while, I just need to talk to Iruka." She nodded and took Sasuke from Kakashi, though it was hard since he was heavy but she managed and made his head rest on her lap, looking down at his face looking tired and worn-out. "And I almost forgot, after their seal goes back, they grow weak from using almost all of their chakra." Kakashi said, patting her head and walking over to where Iruka waited.

"Think you can explain this to Tsunade?"

Iruka nodded and crossed his arms. "I think she'll understand the situation, but why are you asking me to explain it like you're planning something?" he asked, looking at him as he turned to avoid his gaze. "You're not telling me something Kakashi," he said, placing a hand on his shoulder which caused the silver-haired man to look back at him. "Kakashi, I've known you for five years, ever since I saved you from dying, you can't expect me to not know you over those-" he got cut off when Kakashi placed a finger on his lips. "Okay, I'll tell you, I plan on having those two skip school for tomorrow, Sasuke lost a lot of chakra and I'm worried that another incident like today might happen again."

"I see." He answered and turned to the two teens, seeing how Sakura continued to stroke Sasuke's raven bangs away from his face and wiping the sweat he had on his forehead away. A smile graced the Life Angel's lips. "I remember doing that to you when you were barely conscious." Kakashi blushed but tried to push it down. "Yeah, and I miss it." He said, looking at his counterpart. "Iruka, you will do it, right?"

He nodded and smiled. "Yes, I know how you feel about your _son_ Kakashi, remember, I have Naruto as well to look after, go ahead, I'll take care of everything." The Death Angel smiled in gratitude "Thanks." And he leaned to him, pulled down his mask slightly and gave a quick peck on Iruka's cheek. "See 'ya!" and he placed back his mask and smirked when Life just blushed at his actions.

"Sakura, let's go." Kakashi called out, carrying Sasuke behind his back. "I hope you don't mind walking, I can't carry the two of you back home." She laughed and nodded, not minding at all and Iruka watched them walking away, a slight smile on his face. _"A family… it would be nice…" _he thought, imagining him and Kakashi with their two sons, Sasuke and Naruto and if ever, two daughter-in-laws; Sakura for Kakashi's son and another for his son.

* * *

Kakashi placed Sasuke on the bed and stepped outside the room after telling Sakura to take care of him for a while since he still needs to prepare dinner for them. As soon as he left, she sat by his bedside and watched her long-time crush continue to sleep and regenerate. Her eyes cast a sad look upon remembering him try to attack her for being in his way. 

"_You're in my way."_

His words echoed in her ears and she shook away the tears that threatened to fall. Sakura stroked his hair and sighed, remembering what he almost did when she told him about their first year in Sugo-Shizen High. _"He almost… kissed me…" _

"Sa…ku…ra…"

She nearly jumped when he mentioned her name as a blush swept across her face. Sakura looked down to see him stir a bit and mention her name a few times. By instinct, she placed her hand over his, squeezing it to assure him that she was here, safe, just beside him and he relaxed a bit. Absentmindedly, she leaned in and gave him a light kiss on his forehead, bidding him sweet dreams, not knowing that by the door, Kakashi was there, smiling at the sweet gesture they both exchanged, even if the other didn't exactly know what he did.

"_Sasuke will never believe me if I told him what he did." _And he chuckled lightly before closing the door, making sure Sakura didn't hear it and he went back downstairs. He stopped short and touched the left side of his neck where a stinging pain suddenly occurred. His own mark was acting up even though he was a pure-breed. A voice he never thought he would hear again suddenly laughed at him in his head, mocking him.

"If you think I won't get what I want, then you're very wrong, Hatake Kakashi…" said the eerie voice as the pure-breed held onto the walls for support. "Ugh, O-Orochimaru…" he fell on his hands and knees, trying to fight his mark from spreading. "Kakashi, I am the leader of Hell, therefore, whatever you do, I can still control you, for you came from Hell itself." And soon enough, his mark began to spread all over his body and he slowly lost control, his eyes turning lifeless and dull like a toy as he turned around and faced the door to Sasuke's room. "Now, go and bring me those two."

"Yes, Master Orochimaru."

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Fallen: Chapter 4: Confusion_

Iruka tried desperately to stop him from hurting the five half-breeds and Chosen. He couldn't bare to see his adopted son, his former students Neji and Ten-Ten, and the other three teens to be harmed anymore. He doesn't know what else he could do so he grabbed Kakashi's shoulders and made the man face him, brought down his mask and pulled himself up to kiss the Angel of Death, startling everyone who was there to witness them. What was supposed to be their secret relationship has just been exposed, just to be able to stop the mark that was continuously spreading on Death's body.

* * *

_A/N: I did say from my profile before that this will contain one Yaoi pair and that's KakaIru, **I hope** you guys will **still read and support this fic**. I'm just doing this for my friend who is a Yaoi fan and she's been requesting for at least one pair. Trust me, I'm not too keen on Yaoi either.__  
_


	4. Confusion

_A/N: Oh boy… Yaoi-ness… sorry for yaoi haters. So, Kakashi is about to take Sasuke and Sakura. Wonder what's going to happen…Sorry for the long wait! I've got a new section on my profile about current ideas for fics that I'm not sure if I'll post it or not. If you have time, check it out and send me some comments! The fic there is entitled "Snapshot"._

_

* * *

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**Fallen**

Something was wrong, there's no mistaking it. Sakura was still new to her powers but her instincts were accurate. She can feel an evil aura from behind her and she's afraid to move or even turn around. Her body froze and she shivered from the eerie feeling as the figure approached, closer and closer. His steps were like that of a cat's, his breathing can barely be heard. Gulping, she found a little amount of courage to take a peek at the intruder, only to have her eyes widened to see Kakashi all covered in black markings.

"K-Kakashi-sensei..?" she gasped when he spread his wings and summoned a scythe, ready to slash or hurt her, rather, his killing intent was directed at Sasuke. She shook her head, refusing to move over or let him hurt one of her guardians. She stood her ground and looked up at Kakashi, trying to overcome the fear that was welling inside of her. "S-sensei… what's wrong with you?" she asked, her voice almost a whisper and a choke at the same time.

The possessed Angel of Death didn't answer and continued to advance forward, threatening to slice her head off if she didn't move. Sakura didn't bother to take heed his threats so he raised the scythe, ready to split her in half. She closed her eyes and hung her head low, not wanting to move aside. If she were to die to protect Sasuke, it would be fine, even if she knows that he too will die later on once she is gone, at least she would throw away her life just to spare him some time to at least gain a bit of consciousness, even if that was really impossible, she could only hope.

And soon, Kakashi brought down the scythe.

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Confusion**_

"…huh?" Iruka dropped the stack of papers he was carrying, not minding how a cool breeze blew away some of the white sheets, making the hallway a mess. He looked outside the window, his eyes like saucers and sweat dripping down from his brow. Something was wrong, yet he couldn't tell what. It was an odd sensation, a weird feeling, something that didn't happen all the time but only if it was bad.

He could hear a few set of footsteps fast approaching him, bringing him out of his reverie. He blinked a few times and bent down, picking up the papers, piling them on his other hand as neatly as he could. Iruka looked up when two pairs of feet stopped before him, one belonging to a Demon and the other from a Hunter.

The Demon grinned at him, his hands behind his head. "What's up Iruka-sensei, it's not like you to drop those papers so easily." The teacher only returned a smile and got up. "It's nothing Naruto," he said, turning back to the window. "Nothing at all." The blonde looked at him then to his Hunter companion, Shikamaru, who also stared where Iruka was facing. Their eyes narrowed and looked around, seeing no other human, Iruka turned back to them. "Head towards Kakashi's place as fast as you can, I'll go call Neji."

Naruto and Shikamaru nodded and jumped out of the window. The Hunter running as fast as he can, jumping from tree to tree, then roof to roof. Naruto brought out his demonic wings and flew near Shikamaru, both picking up the pace over to Death's home, also sensing a very odd feeling.

* * *

She opened her eyes to see a barrier blocking her and Sasuke as Kakashi continued to hit at it, trying hard to break it. Sakura turned to Sasuke, seeing him glowing blue. Thinking that he might be using what's left of his chakra, she rushed to him and yelled at him, telling him to stop doing whatever he was doing. "Sasuke, don't do it, you can't-" 

"That's not Sasuke's chakra doing the job!"

Sakura turned to the window to see Naruto tackle Kakashi and Shikamaru eyeing her. "What do you mean?" she asked as the Hunter stepped inside and walked closer to them, the barrier not stopping him from entering. "This is called Natural Instinct, a.k.a. NI. It is a Fallen's NI to protect its body or the Chosen from those who have bad intentions, like the possessed Kakashi over there. As for me, the subconscious of Sasuke's supernatural side knows I won't do anything to hurt you or Sasuke so I can enter. As for Kakashi, he can't for he plans to kill you or Sasuke or something worse."

"What's worse than death?"

"Him bringing you to Hell, to Orochimaru, to Hellarium…"

"Who..?"

"Hellarium, or Orochimaru, is the head of all Demons, whether rogue or not, or anyone who came from Hell. Apparently, Kakashi is Death, so he came from Hellarios and despite being a pure-breed, Oro can still control him easily."

Sakura turned back to Sasuke. "So, why would Hellarium be after Sasuke?"

"Because of his race, he's a Fallen, and Angelus are rare, remember that."

Kakashi kicked Naruto and tried to break the barrier once again but the blonde Demon grabbed his waist and pulled him away. "Come on Kakashi-sensei! This is Sasuke and Sakura you're trying to hurt, trying to send to Oro! Snap out of it! This isn't what you want!" Death only glared at him and elbowed him on his gut, making the half-demon double over from the pain. He then used his scythe and slashed it at Naruto who ducked in the nick of time.

Shikamaru cursed and adjusted his wristwatch where a string was stocked inside it. "Naruto, just get Sasuke and Sakura out of here, I'll take care of Kakashi." He said, stepping out of Sasuke's NI and looping the string he had. He threw it over Kakashi's body, binding him as he held onto the string tight, waiting for Naruto to get the two out of the room. "This is too troublesome…" he muttered.

* * *

"This is bad… if these things keep up, there's no telling what could happen to the Chosen." Neji said as he zoomed pass houses, his girlfriend in his arms with Iruka flying by his side. His eyes narrowed when he saw Naruto carrying Sasuke over his shoulder and Sakura following. Iruka noticed this and flew down, followed by the Angel and Huntress. "Where's Shikamaru and Kakashi?" Ten-Ten asked. 

"Augh!"

They turned their heads to see the said Hunter fall down from the window and was attacked by a possessed Kakashi with his scythe in a killing stance. Neji didn't waste any time to have his palms a glow and start charging at Death. Naruto left Sasuke under the two female's care as he and Iruka tried to stop Kakashi from a killing spree.

"Isn't there any way to stop this?" Naruto asked, blocking a kick from Death. Iruka shook his head and grabbed one of Kakashi's arm, stopping him from giving a punch to Neji who gave Death an uppercut. "We can't just beat him up to a bloody pulp!" The blonde demon yelled, ducking Kakashi's scythe. Iruka held his counterpart back and tried to think of something. It's not easy to stop a possessed pure-breed, it would take up his whole energy just to do so.

"_What should I do..?" _he thought; his hold on Kakashi tightening as he kept struggling to escape Life's grip. Neji grunted and held onto one of Kakashi's arm which held the scythe. Naruto pinned down his other arm as Shikamaru got out a bottle of holy water. He closed his eyes and began to chant. _"This only has a ten percent chance of working…" _Ten-Ten thought and gulped. _"Holy water rituals are more effective against Demons, rogue or not." _

Still, Shikamaru was a high level hunter, even if he was lazy most of the time; he was smart and hardworking when needed. The Hunter genius sprayed a few drops on Kakashi, earning a growl from the possessed pure-breed. His mark slowly descended but just when they thought it was over…

"_Kill them!" _

His mark came back and Kakashi growled and threw them all off. He started to walk towards Ten-Ten and Sakura's direction, his scythe ready to kill. The Huntress pushed Sakura back and stood before the Chosen, two kunai at each hand and her eyes glaring dangerously at Death. "I'm not going to let you get what you want." She said, tightening her hold on the weapons. Sakura only eyed the scene before her. She felt useless, despite being the Chosen.

Ten-Ten wasn't one of her four protectors, yet here she was, defending her and Sasuke. Neji and the others were already down and had a few injuries from the powerful aura Kakashi gave out. And Kakashi, he wasn't one of her guardians, but he protected her never the less, now, he needed help, he was being possessed, and she can't do anything about it.

Her fists shook as she clenched tighter, her eyes shut as she tried to force back the tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. _"I have to think, I have to do something…" _she eyed Sasuke's unconscious form for a while, recalling how he was out of control the other day and how he nearly gave up his life for her sake. _"What should I do..? I don't know how to stop Kakashi-sensei… I can't depend on others all the time…" _

She snapped her head up when she heard Ten-Ten's cry of pain. Her eyes widened when she saw blood dripping down from the blade of Death's scythe and a wounded Ten-Ten still staggering to stand up and fight. Sakura nearly fainted when Kakashi almost slit the female hunter's throat, missing it by an inch when Ten-Ten quickly ducked the attack. Unfortunately, it served as a distraction when Kakashi quickly kneed her on the gut and advanced towards Sasuke.

Sakura stood up quickly and blocked Kakashi's path, her arms spread wide and her eyes held a determined look. She knitted her eyebrows when Kakashi took another step closer. Death glared at her and she returned the look, as intense as he gave it, if not more. "Kakashi-sensei…" she said, lowering her head slightly, her pink bangs shadowing her eyes. "Fight Hellarium, I know you don't want to hurt Sasuke-kun, nor do you want to hurt me." She looked up at him, watching as Kakashi poised for an attack. "Sensei," she said. "Fight it!"

* * *

His eyelids opened slightly, giving him a chance to see what was going on. It was blurry; he couldn't make out what was happening. He only heard a voice yell at someone and he squint a bit as his vision cleared. Seeing a flash of pink sway from the way the owner shook her head, he slowly sat up, feeling his body ache and sore. He raised his right hand, feeling and seeing it twitch. Closing his eyes once more, he concentrated enough energy ki on it to get rid of the numbness. 

"Fight it sensei!"

He turned to his left, seeing her standing before him, her back facing him and arms spread at her side, in a protective way. _"Is she… defending me..?" _he thought as he saw Death raising his scythe, ready to strike it down on her body to split her in half. _"Shit." _He cursed mentally and got up, staggering a bit until blood began to circulate through his numbed legs. He stood up straight and summoned forth his katana then rushed towards Kakashi, blocking the scythe that was about to kill Sakura.

A few gasps were heard, but the one he heard clearly was from the girl behind him. She had her hands clasped over her mouth and eyes widened upon seeing him block the attack with his katana. "S-Sasuke..?" he smirked, turning his head slightly to her. "Not bad," he said, letting his eyes meet hers. "Not bad at all." And with all the strength he could muster, pushed Kakashi away with the use of his own weapon. "You okay?" Sakura gave a nod, still looking at him with shock and worry at the same time. "Are… you?" she asked back and he looked down for a while before nodding as well. "Aa, never better."

"Watch out!" he heard Neji yell. Sasuke pushed back Sakura as he took a few steps back, with Kakashi moving forward, attacking him with a kick, punch and a swish of his scythe. Cursing when Death managed to get a shallow cut on his left cheek, he concentrated a bit of chakra on his blade and knocked off the deadly weapon away from Kakashi's hands.

However, being Death, he didn't need a weapon to fight or kill, especially since the deadliest weapon man could ever have is his hands. Kakashi got Sasuke into a heated hand-to-hand combat, swapping hits, blocks and dodges as the others stood their ground, waiting for a right moment to jump in between the two. Ten-Ten held onto her wounded shoulder, gripping onto it.

"Isn't there a way to stop sensei? Sasuke just recovered from regenerating, there's no telling when he could pass out or loose control again." The Huntress said, looking at her Angel boyfriend who reached them and gave a shrug. "I'm not entirely sure, my breed comes from above, not below."

* * *

"_If you can't handle them, I'll have to send some imps to help you." _and the voice in his head did send imps, little demons that were just about the average height of a one-year old yet quick with their feet. They ran towards the other half-breeds, clawing at them, biting them, and if possible, taking a lick of their blood. 

Imps love blood, especially if it comes from a half-breed female, and it just so happens, Ten-Ten was one and had two little demons sucking out some blood on her injury.

"Fuck off my girl!" Neji had yelled, clearly angered at how the little nitwits, to put it simply, had _touched_ his girl, his territory in half-breed language.

Without giving it much thought, the Angel had emitted a bright white light, making the imps go blind. It was a sight for sore eyes for impure and unholy creatures like them. Half-demon and half-human Naruto wasn't at all affected by it; he was half and half after all. Once the imps had gone back to Hellarios, Neji had fallen to his knees, panting a bit and staring at the slightly weakened state of Kakashi who had two of his hands holding onto his head.

"No… stop it… get out of my mind!" the pure-breed yelled, his knees buckling as he shook, trembling at how he struggled to fight off the voice commanding him to do what he wishes to not do. Sasuke held his ground, still having a protective arm in front of Sakura, telling her to stay back and to prepare herself for what might happen. He only regenerated, he can't overuse his chakra again or it'll take him a whole week to fully recover.

A supernatural being takes a very long period of time in depleting his chakra, but it shortens when he or she, looses control over his or her body. More over, when transferring half of it to someone to lessen pain or help someone to live longer, his or her ki will surely grow weak from it, a sacrifice that had to be made to save or to help someone.

Kakashi had finally ceased his agonizing cries and slowly got up, his eyes were full of emotions, telling them all that he was the real Kakashi. But his actions said otherwise. "What the- Kakashi, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked as he nearly got punched on the face by his mentor. "I can't control my body!" Death had said. "Damn it!" he cursed when he nearly plunged his chidori on Sasuke's chest, right near his heart.

"Fight it Kakashi!" Iruka yelled and ran to him, wrapping his arms around the possessed Kakashi's waist from behind. "Fight it!" he yelled once more. Life could feel the pounds and hits that Kakashi was giving him as Death told him to let go and keep away, saying he doesn't want to hurt him. It only resulted to tears in his eyes as Iruka had looked up at him, Kakashi's struggling to get him off not halting.

Iruka tried desperately to stop him from hurting the five half-breeds and Chosen. He couldn't bear to see his adopted son, his former students Neji and Ten-Ten, and the other three teens to be harmed anymore. He doesn't know what else he could do so he grabbed Kakashi's shoulders and made the man face him, brought down his mask and pulled himself up to kiss the Angel of Death, startling everyone who was there to witness them. What was supposed to be their secret relationship has just been exposed, just to be able to stop the mark that was continuously spreading on Death's body.

"_I have no choice Kakashi…" _

"I..ru…ka..sen..sei..?" Naruto whispered, eyes wide.

"_It's the only way I can think of as of now…"_

"…w-what did he just… do?" Shikamaru asked, stammering.

"_You see, we can't keep it a secret forever…"_

"…our… teachers are…" Sakura gaped.

"…_they'll eventually find out, especially Naruto and Sasuke…"_

"Sensei…" Sasuke murmured, having the same facial expression as the others.

"_...since they're our kids… adopted kids…" _

"N-Neji… do they… have a…" Ten-Ten trailed off.

"…_Kids that have grown."_

"Y-yeah… I think…" Neji answered.

Iruka parted from his lip lock with Kakashi, his eyes still watery as his counterpart stared at him, eyes wide as well and his mask lowered, exposing the usually hidden part of his face. His mouth opened a bit, Life's name coming out of it, rolling off of his tongue. Surely, they were seen as males when in human form. Yet in Magna Carta, or Heaven in other words, and Hellarios, they were actually genderless.

Naruto knew this about Iruka, but he still didn't believe that what his step-dad had said was true. The blonde only knew that Life and Death were opposite angels, yet they weren't branded as male or female. Just at the thought of being genderless was… a bit hard a fact to swallow. It reminded him of an anime show he used to watch as a kid, something to do with a girl who had the same name as the Chosen, and some magical cards. _"Was it glow or flow? Or crow cards..? Damn! Can't remeber!" _All he can recall is that one of the girl's two guardians was not male or female, but a gender undefined person.

* * *

"S-Sasuke… did Iruka-sensei just…" Sakura didn't finish her question but continued staring at the two, noticing that Kakashi had calmed down and returned to normal. "A-Aa… he kissed… him…" he blinked and shook his head, breathing a sigh of relief as it started to rain. "Are you okay?" he asked out of the blue. Sakura eyed him and gave a nod. Her eyes cast him a worried look upon seeing the small cut on his cheek. The blood had dried up yet the wound could have been infected. She raised a hand over it and closed her eyes, concentrating her small amount of chakra on it. 

A hand grabbed her wrist just as she finished healing it. She looked at him with a questioning look when he narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't waste your chakra on a small wound like that." She only avoided his look by lowering her head. "Sorry…" she whispered. He only sighed when her nose twitched and she sneezed. "Idiot…" he muttered under his breath and pulled her to him, trying hard to shield her from the rain. _"Yeah right, you just want to hold her close to you…" _snorted his conscious. He shook it away, not in the mood to have another debate with his usually reasonable and honest mind.

Sakura had turned beet red from his actions but just remained silent, albeit snuggling closer to him without the Fallen noticing, at least, that's what she hoped. _"…He's warm..." _she thought, her nose taking a whiff of his scent. Although, he actually _did _detect her act and he tried hard to push down the blush that threatened to taint his cheeks.

"_What the hell did I just felt..?" _he thought, trying to shake off the so-called funny feeling that some people dub it as. _"Wait… that's usually a bad thing, for me at least." _He shook his head and dragged Sakura, who was still in one of his arms, towards the others. Kakashi quickly covered his face once more as he stared at Iruka, his tears mixing with the rain water that splashed on his face, making it unnoticeable. "Iruka…" he said through his mask, eyes half-closed. "That wasn't supposed to happen, you were suppose to perform the-"

Iruka's index finger stopped his lips from speaking. His eyes narrowed a bit at Kakashi before he spoke. "It takes too much time, a lot of determination and courage, as well as energy ki. You know that." He said, retrieving his finger. "And I was too scared to even start the first hand seal for it. You were closing in on them, ready to kill them, I had to act soon, I acted without thinking."

Kakashi eyed him for a while then turned to the approaching figures of the gang. He smiled slightly, seeing Sasuke and Sakura, as a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes. "Well, I'm guessing you'd all like me, or Iruka, or us, to explain?" he asked, scratching the back of his head. Sasuke and Naruto shook their heads, indicating that they already know the whole reason. They just weren't ready to see an… affectionate action.

Neji and Ten-Ten had a "don't-even-bother" look while Shikamaru yawned; silently saying he didn't give a damn about it. With a nod, Death stretched his arms and turned to the Chosen, who was being shielded by Sasuke's white school polo, as usual, left unbuttoned. What caught his eye was how an arm was slung around the girl, holding her close to make sure she won't get wet or catch a cold. Not to mention the slight hint of pink across the boy's cheeks as he tried to remain impassive.

Naruto folded his arms behind his head and turned to Iruka. "Sensei, shouldn't we head back to school by now? Granny Tsunade won't be pleased if we don't head back soon." Iruka turned to him and smiled slightly. "Relax Naruto, I informed Shizune earlier before I left." Naruto blinked. "So, where are we going or what are we going to do?"

Kakashi shrugged and turned to Sasuke and Sakura. "I don't know but the three of us will have to head home now," he turned to Sakura, giving a fatherly smile. "Our little Sakura here has caught a cold." He cooed, earning a blush from Sakura and a serious look from Sasuke as the male teen pushed her away slightly and grabbed her by the shoulders, one hand reaching up her forehead, brushing away her pink bangs and feeling her temperature. He glared at her and she yelped when he picked her up like a groom does to his bride after a marriage.

"She does not have a mere cold _but_ a fever." He deadpanned and averted his glaring onyx orbs at her as she gave a weak smile, her face red from embarrassment and fever. "Slight fever, Sasuke." She corrected but he only ignored it and looked at the rest. "I'm taking her home. See 'ya." And he summoned his wings, flying back to Kakashi's.

"Hey, Iruka, can you take care of them for a while? I think need to go to Jiraiya's first to make sure that Oro doesn't possess me again." He said, his raven wings sprouting behind his back. Iruka nodded as he flew off, following Sasuke. "And you guys will escort me there in case I start loosing control again." Naruto and Shikamaru groaned while Neji and Ten-Ten just nodded, inwardly cursing the man called Death.

* * *

"Let me see." He said, taking the thermometer from her mouth and raised it, checking her temperature. Sasuke stood by the door, arms crossed and leaning against the wooden frame, eyes affixed on Sakura intently. Iruka nodded and placed down the thermometer on the bedside table. He glanced at the broken window and the shards of glass on the floor. The window was broken and that was done by a Secular (see chapter 2 and 3). With his eyes closed and a wave of his hand, the shards began to glue together and were fitted back in the right places, making the once broken window look as good as new. 

Sakura gaped at him, blinking and slowly sat up. She, however, lay back down when she caught the glare Sasuke sent her. "One of my magic and gift as the Angel of Life." He explained, smiling then turned to Sasuke. "Her temperature is raging from 38.7-39.3 degrees Celsius. Right now, she needs some rest and a lot of care. Also, make her drink lots of water. As for food, it'll be better if it's rice porridge or chicken noodle soup, the traditional medicine in the old days." He chuckled as Sasuke sweat dropped at this. "Or you can always do what your mom does before." He gave a small smile at the teen who lowered his head at the mention of his mom. "Well, I guess I'll fix dinner for tonight, Kakashi did tell me to wait for his arrival."

Sasuke nodded and added a "thanks" after remembering that Iruka had fixed his broken window. He then turned to Sakura who was now dressed in a loose white shirt and sweat pants. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him, took the remote for the air conditioner in his room and switched it on with a press of a button. He adjusted the temperature a bit and then placed it back down the table where he usually studies or ends up falling asleep after reviewing for the finals.

She yawned and glanced at him with drowsy eyes. "Sasuke, where are you going to sleep?" she asked. She felt bad for already having him taking care of her, protecting her and even letting her sleep on his bed in his room. It was just too much. Sasuke sat down on a chair and leaned back a bit, tipping the chair and managing to keep balance as he crossed his arms and stared at her. "I can sleep on the floor or just sit here and use my desk as my pillow. It doesn't matter, I can fall asleep anywhere once I'm sleepy or tired."

"But…" she slowly sat up, ignoring the warning look he gave her. "…this is your room, you're supposed to be on the bed, I can sleep elsewhere." He snorted and she looked down, avoiding his gaze. Sasuke positioned the chair back on all fours and stood up, walking towards her. He too, had changed into a set of fresh and dry, clean clothes with the choice of his favorite or preferred colors of a dark grey long-sleeved shirt and dark blue baggy pants. "Get some sleep." He ordered, pushing her on her back gently and placing the covers over her.

"But-"

"No buts." He hissed and sat down beside her. "Look, this is my room, and I can sleep wherever I want in here, in the meantime, go rest and sleep." She wanted to argue but thought otherwise, feeling very tired and groggy. "I'll wake you up when Iruka-sensei brings you your dinner, just get some rest." He said, his tone softer than usual. "…Before that, can you answer me one question?"

"Aa."

"Is Hellarium so strong to be able to control Kakashi-sensei like a doll?"

He wasn't a prodigy for nothing, he noticed how her voice had a tone that said and hinted fear of being taken away or killed, or maybe even the fear of seeing others die in front of her just to protect or save her. "Yes." He answered, closing his eyes as she gripped on the blankets, pulling it closer to her like a child would when a thunderstorm was occurring. "But," he added and her eyes looked at him, blinking.

Sasuke opened his eyes and lowered his head to hers slightly, a hand brushing away her pink bangs in a gentle and soothing way. "I'll always be here to protect you, no matter how many Seculars he sends, or despite the number of Crusades there are, even if he himself comes and tries, note, _tries_, to take you away," he reached for her hand and held it in his. "I'll be there, I'll be here, wherever you are, I'll stop him, even if it means giving up my life."

If her face wasn't red, he would've seen how she was beet red. Slowly closing her eyes, she gave a nod and a "thank you" to him, her voice above a whisper as she slowly drifted to slumber. A few moments later, Sasuke still didn't move or shifted from his position. He still held onto her hand and his face was just four inches away from hers, his warm breath mixing with her own, watching how her slightly parted lips breathed in and out. His eyes softened at the sight of her sleeping form as he let his eyelids slowly close and his head dip lower, his lips merely half an inch away from her kissable ones.

He stopped though, eyes shot wide open and face extremely red as he stared at her. His heart began beating wildly as he just realized what he was about to do. _"I can't…" _he said to himself, his hand leaving the warmth of her own as the cool air coming from the air con touched his hand, making it cold once more. _"I can't let my emotions out… I mustn't feel this way towards her…" _he stood up and looked at his trembling right hand, the fragments of his past coming back to haunt him. _"I kill anyone who I learn to love, because once I love, I let my guard down, and he can easily come back and possess me, and make me kill them, my friends, Sakura." _

Blood, he didn't want to see it on his hands if it cam from someone he loves and cares for, he feared being close to someone. He was safe being close to Kakashi as an adopted son, since he was a pure-breed and can very much make him snap from his possessed side, since he was just a half-breed. _"But if it was Sakura, I can easily kill her…" _he shut his eyes at the thought of her blood on his hands. He didn't want that to happen. He glanced at her for a while, a sad and angered look on his face. _"I know how you feel towards me, but… as much as I want to return it just to make you happy, I can't… knowing that… I can eventually… kill you one day if I fall in love…" _

It annoyed him to no end. He can't be free, knowing that Hellarium was there, waiting for the right moment to take over his body and manipulate him into killing everyone he knows and loves. _"I'm… so confused…" _he thought, holding onto his head as he stared at the carpeted floor. He never knew that he would end up falling for someone someday, and it just had to be the Chosen one, which makes it harder.

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Fallen: Chapter 5: Nightmares_

_"Tsunade..?" _Sasuke thought, seeing the blonde woman stand before the little Sakura with a soft smile on her face. Sakura only looked up at her with tear-stained eyes as her savior slowly got up and walked away. When she was gone, a man took her place. He had a sinister smile and long silky black hair. Pale yellow eyes shone in the darkness and nails growing sharp, turning into claws as teeth became fangs. Three pairs of black bat-like wings sprouted from his back as he rushed at the older Sakura, the one he was just inches away from.

* * *

_A/N: Voting for upcoming fics will be closed by the time I upload chapter five of Fallen so if you still haven't voted, pick now! Comments on this chapter will be greatly appreciated! Thank you! _


	5. Nightmares

_A/N: More SasuSaku fluff in this chapter!

* * *

_

**Fallen**

It was the fifth time that night that she had yelled and cried in her sleep yet she didn't wake up, only continued to sleep, having nightmares of her childhood. For the sixth time, he sighed, removing his right hand that was previously over her forehead. Her fever had died down, yet she was still sweating and panting, as if her temperature had gone higher.

"…No…" she murmured, a disturbed look on her face.

Curious, he closed his eyes and placed his hand over her forehead once more, concentrating chakra on it as he took a look at her subconscious, her mind, her dreams and thoughts. His brows creased together as he found her form on the floor, on her knees. Her shoulders were slumped and she was shaking in the dark. He approached her, careful not to let his presence known until he stopped when he saw a Secular just a few feet away from them.

Before the rogue was another Sakura, the child one, and she was terrified as the rogue advanced towards her. Then, he saw a woman rush head on at the Secular, attacking it but in the end, gave up her life to protect the little Sakura. Once more, the creature walked closer to the kid, but just like before, another woman came and performed a few seals, crying out an attack and killing the rogue.

"_Tsunade..?" _Sasuke thought, seeing the blonde woman stand before the little Sakura with a soft smile on her face. Sakura only looked up at her with tear-stained eyes as her savior slowly got up and walked away. When she was gone, a man took her place. He had a sinister smile and long silky black hair. Pale yellow eyes shone in the darkness and nails growing sharp, turning into claws as teeth became fangs. Three pairs of black bat-like wings sprouted from his back as he rushed at the older Sakura, the one he was just inches away from.

* * *

**_Chapter 5: Nightmares_**

She quickly sat up and panted, staring wide eyed at Sasuke who was catching his breath as well. He looked back at her, a questioning look on his face as she placed a hand on her head, touching her forehead. "How did you..?" he took a deep breathe in and looked down. "One of a Fallen's specialties is entering someone's dreams. If I didn't enter your mind, that man, Hellarium, would have taken you for sure."

Sakura shook at this, instinctively hugging herself as she bore her eyes at him. "H-he can do that..?" he saw fear in her eyes, and it just made him feel bad of not being able to help her with it. "Aa. That's why it's dangerous if you're alone. He could attack you in your sleep."

"Have you ever experienced that?"

"No, pure-breeds and half-breeds have NI, it can also protect us from him when we sleep. But as for gifted ones and the Chosen, they are vulnerable in their sleep." She pulled her knees up to her chest and started to tremble once more. He knew that if he told her that, she'll have trouble sleeping, but he had to, she needed to know sooner or later.

Without knowing what else to do, he ignored his pride and usually cold attitude, and pushed her down gently on the bed as he too, lay down beside her, making her head rest on his chest as he held her protectively, his eyes closed and body emitting blue aura, making both of them glow in the dimly lit room.

Sakura blushed when he had pulled her into his arms, getting a whiff of his vanilla scent. She heard him speak in a gentle and reassuring tone: "Relax, I'll be here, I won't let him take you." He pulled her closer. "I passed a bit of NI to you, it can prevent him from hurting you within your dreams, but he can still enter, and you'll still see him, but he won't be able to lay even a finger on you."

"Why is that?" she asked, slowly closing her eyes and snuggling closer to him. He stiffened a bit and eventually relaxed as he gave out a sigh. "I'm an Angelus, enough said." She gave a nod at this and tried to get some sleep. Fallens are considered the strongest, and surely, if there's one thing that can prevent Hellarium from taking her, it would be a presence of an Angelus, much less, the Fallen's NI.

"Sasuke-kun…"

He opened an eye and looked at her. _"It's been a while since she last called me that…" _he thought, waiting for her to continue. She raised her head a bit, lifting herself up so her head hovered above his as she looked at him with an unsure expression. He opened his other eye and gazed back at her. "What is it?" he asked, feeling his insides beginning to churn. _"There's that damn feeling again!" _

"Thanks." And she lowered her head, brushing her lips against his in a light kiss. Although their lips barely touched, he can still feel her soft natural cherry colored lips on his as she went back to her previous position, finally able to snooze safely. Sasuke blinked, absentmindedly tightening his hold around her waist and pulling her body closer, careful not to wake her up. Softly, he whispered a "You're welcome" in her ear and he too, went to take a nap.

* * *

It annoyed her, sickened her even, seeing that girl with her crush. They were always together, day and night. She wondered what the girl had that she didn't. She had a lot of fans adoring her, boys are dying to go out with her, yet this Fallen, this particular Angelus, had chosen someone else. _"Bitch." _She thought, seeing the pink haired girl and began walking away after giving a dark glare towards Sakura.

Again, he took note how the half-breed Demon had given a disgusted look towards the Chosen. It made him narrow his eyes and made a mental note to keep a close watch on that blonde girl. Aside from the Sand siblings, this girl could be a threat. He turned back to Sakura when he saw her raise her hand to touch her forehead and her facial expression one of fatigue.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Y-yeah, I am." She said, forcing a smile.

Sasuke only gave her a worried look then stopped in front of the girl, placed a hand on her forehead and frowned when her eyes drooped a bit. "You still have a fever Sakura." He said, feeling the warmth of her skin as she grinned sheepishly, her cheeks flushed due to her high body temperature. "I'm taking you to Shizune-san." He said, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the school's clinic.

"No need to," she said, pulling her hand back and gave one more smile at him. "I'll be fine Sasuke, it's nothing, really." He scowled and she avoided his look, feeling other students staring at them. "Look, I'll just have Shizune-san check your temperature, give you a medicine and then I'll leave you alone, how's that?" A sigh escaped her lips "Fine then." She said, giving in as she let him hold her hand and continued pulling her to the clinic.

He opened the door as Shizune greeted them and asked what was wrong. Sasuke had explained everything and the nurse only told Sakura to have a seat as her temperature was taken. After three minutes, Shizune took the thermometer from the sick girl's mouth and checked her temperature. She gave out a whistle and turned back to Sakura.

"Haruno-san, you're temperature is quite high, you shouldn't have gone here." She said, walking to a cupboard and taking out a tablet for students who have fevers. She handed it to Sakura who took it, along with the cup of water the nurse offered. Sakura kept her gaze away from Sasuke when she felt him glaring at her. "Well Uchiha-san, I guess Haruno-san will have to stay here until school is over, then you can take her home. In the mean time, I'll stay here to take care of her, and you can come back on your lunch break."

"Aa, thank you Shizune-san." He bowed slightly and gave a stern look to Sakura who laughed nervously. He bent down and poked her on the forehead as she yelped and rubbed her sore temple, giving him a pout. "Next time, don't lie." He said and walked out of the clinic, heading for his classroom.

"Uchiha-san seems to be really worried to take you here himself." Sakura blinked and smiled slightly. "Yeah," Sakura murmured. "Although he has a funny and strange way of showing it…" The nurse laughed at the girl's comment and gestured her towards a vacant bed, instructing her to sleep and rest. Sakura lay down and closed her eyes, drifting off to dreamland.

* * *

"So according to the text book, the marks of every half-breed differ, yet it can also be the same to pure-breeds who have the same kind or type of genes…" Kakashi held onto the book with his left hand and his other writing and drawing the different marks of half and pure-breeds. "This," he said, pointing to an "X" with his chalk. "Is the Hunter's mark, as it says in this book, the marks can be found on the backside palm of their hands." He searched the class with his eyes. "Ah, let's call on Temari shall we?" he asked, his eyes crinkling in amusement when the blonde teenager stood up, her eyes clearly showing how she was bored and uninterested with everything that's going on.

"Show the class your marks Temari." Kakashi said as the girl gave a nod and raised her palms, the back of it facing the class. "Here are the Hunter's marks; two on each." He then drew another one on the board. "Next, we have a Demon's." he wrote the word on the blackboard and without looking, "Naruto, stop talking with Shikamaru and come up here to show us where your mark is."

With a groan for being caught again, Naruto trudged onto the front, standing beside Temari and then lifted his white polo's left sleeve, along with the black shirt's sleeve inside, showing his exposed left arm. A circle above an upside down cross, with a curve supporting the circle like a smile.

Kakashi nodded his thanks but didn't tell them to sit down yet, a somewhat discreet punishment for Temari, for always being so inattentive despite her grades, for Naruto being, well, Naruto. "Here is the mark of an Angel." He drew a cross with an "X" over it, writing the word "Angel" below it. "Hinata, please show us your mark."

"H-Hai!" Hinata got up and walked over to the front, standing beside Naruto who grinned at her as she blushed and returned his greeting with a small smile. Like Naruto had done earlier, she lifted her right sleeves of her uniform and showed the class the mark of the Angel."

"This one is the Angel of Life's mark." He drew a number six facing the opposite way and another one inverted. "It is located on the right neck." Then he drew another mark: a somewhat look-alike of a number six and a curve supporting it below (i.e. ANBU mark). "This is on the right neck of Death." He drew another one, like the yin and yang symbol minus the circles and shades, only the middle of the circle was there and the two dots on the very end of each curve, a somewhat smile and sad curve supporting each circle. "This is the Chosen's mark, located above the left collar bone."

He looked back at his book. "A Chosen, as you all know, is a gifted, only special. He or she has four guardians and two advisers. You already know what the four are, as for the two, they are Life and Death." He turned back to the board and drew three commas, the pointed curve facing outwards as it formed a swirling type of shape (i.e. Curse Seal). Kakashi wrote the word "Angelus" below.

"Now then, the slang name for Angelus is Fallen, and I assume everyone knows why?" he turned to the class, receiving nods. "So Sasuke, please come to the front." The said teen averted his gaze from the window and to Kakashi. "Why me?" he only got a chuckle from the teacher. "As you know, it will be a delight for your fans and most of all; you're the _only _Angelus in this class. The rest are in other sections." He raised a hand and ushered him to come over. "Show us where your mark is."

Sasuke sighed and got up, passing by a few of his female classmates who giggled and whispered words with each other until he reached Hinata's side. With another sigh and a signal from Kakashi, Sasuke removed his white polo and slid down the left side of his black shirt, his back facing the class. Naruto snickered when the girls began to squeal with what he did. In his mind, he cursed them all to hell. _"What? I'm not topless you idiots! I'm just showing the back left part of my neck! Geez!" _He gave Kakashi a desperate look of "please-tell-me-I-can-put-my-polo-back-on" and the teacher only smiled behind his mask and nodded, much to his relief.

"Okay girls, settle down."

Sasuke then hit Naruto on the head, pocketed his hands and muttered a "dobe" then headed back to his seat, eyes closed and ignoring the calls from the girls. Naruto only stuck his tongue out at Sasuke's back and returned to his seat, followed by Hinata and Temari. _"Damn… how slow can time get?" _Sasuke thought and turned back to face the window.

* * *

"Uh… N-no… please… stop…"

She mumbled a few more words and kept tossing and turning. The blankets of the school's clinic that once kept her body warm lay on the floor, her uniform wrinkled and the skirt slightly rising to her mid thigh from all the moving she did. Her half-pony styled hair was disheveled, the middle button of her white blouse about to open as she continued to struggle in her dream.

He was just a few more steps away, a sinister grin across his face as he continued to advance towards the girl, ready to bring her to Hell so that he could cause chaos to the world and rule the whole universe. "S-stop, keep away!" she yelled, crawling away from him backwards, stumbling at times as her eyes remained widened and pupils dilated in fear. "S-stay away… Stay away!" when his hand was within a few inches away from reaching her, a blue barrier shielded him, stopping him from touching her. "W-what?" he narrowed his eyes at this and charged at her but was only deflected by the shield.

"A Fallen's NI…" he said, eyes widened as he stared at Sakura who was on the ground, kneeling and crying from fear. His lips curved upwards and he laughed. "So Sasuke has figured out a way to stop me from taking you in your dreams; very clever indeed." He stood up and slowly stepped back. "I shall come back for you, once he lets his guard down."

After taking a sharp intake of breath, she sat up abruptly and panted, staring down at her skirt, fists clenched and shaking. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she continued to catch her breath. Sakura felt a sudden sharp pain on her mark as she placed a hand over it, touching the burning sensation, trying to drive it away by caressing it with her hand.

A hand shot up and grabbed her wrist, pulling it away from the mark. She looked up to see Sasuke staring at her. "It won't help ease the pain." He said and sat down beside her, lowered his head on the mark and blew on it, not noticing how she shivered from his warm breath. "Does it still hurt?" he asked. She gave a nod, shutting her eyes when the pain came back. Instinctively, she raised her hand to touch it but his hand stopped her from doing so. "It won't work Sak," he said, and gave the mark a light flick of his tongue, ending it with a chaste kiss. "Still hurts?" he asked. Sakura remained silent and looked at him as he raised his head to meet her gaze, a smirk adorning his face.

"How did..?"

"Just one of a Fallen's tricks." He said, nearing his forehead on hers as he closed his eyes. "Your fever has lowered, your body temperature is returning to normal, and I assume you're hungry?" he asked, opening his eyes to look into her eyes. She gave a small nod and he got up, offering a hand to her which she took. "I asked Shizune-san if I can bring you home earlier, I explained everything to Tsunade as well, and they both agreed that I can take you home and stay with you there."

"But what about your afternoon classes?" she asked, feeling a bit light-headed from her encounter with Orochimaru in her dreams. "Like I said, I already explained everything." He said, not taking his eyes off her as they neared the door. "He paid you a visit, didn't he?" she only nodded and touched her head, knitting her eyebrows when she felt her head ache. "Sakura," she looked at him with half-closed eyes as he stopped for a while and grabbed her shoulders. "Hey, are you okay? Tell me the truth this time."

"No, not exactly…" she whispered, feeling like fainting. "How do you feel?" he asked again. "I feel like fainting, I must be really tired, that's all I guess, I mean, I didn't get a good sleep since he kept coming back." He furrowed his eyebrows at this and carried her in his arms. She didn't bother to protest and just closed her eyes when he held her closer, his mouth hovering above her right ear. "Just get some sleep, I'll take you home." He whispered and walked out of the school building, gaining everyone's attention.

"H-hey, why is Sasuke-kun carrying that Haruno girl?" one girl had asked. "I don't know, why is he holding her like that, like he's hugging her!" the other one exclaimed. Nearby, the half-demon woman heard it, her fists clenching when her blue eyes saw her crush carrying the same girl she loathed. With a mad dash, she stopped right in front of him and gave an annoyed look, which he returned with a stoic one.

She raised her finger and pointed it at Sakura. "Why are you with her, of all people? Why are you with her?" she half-yelled, half-asked. "What is it that you see in her? Why are you carrying her like that? What does she have that I or any other girl in this school doesn't? What made you suddenly care for her? As far as I remember, you don't give a damn or a shit about any girl, so why start now, with her of all people?"

"Why, does it have to be you?" he asked, not seeming fazed or affected with her words. "You're not the boss of me, nor can you tell me who I should carry or worry about. If you think you deserve to be in her place, then you're wrong." He started to walk again but she stomped her foot on the ground and didn't move away from his path. He glared at her. "Move, Yamanaka."

"No."

"I have no time for this, move."

"No."

With his patience growing thin, he glared some more, his eyes turning red as her whole façade slowly slumped and her knitted brows slowly fading, eyes turning to one of fright, confusion and defeat. "Move it, _bitch_." He never meant to say it, but she dared him to, not in words but the way she acted. "If you don't _fucking_ move I'll end up killing you." He said, as calmly as he could, which was usually a bad sign.

"Sasuke…"

He looked down, eyes turning back to normal when Sakura had whispered his name. She slowly opened her eyes halfway and looked up at him, one hand reaching up to touch his right cheek. "Let it go… don't… hurt anyone…" she said as loud as she could, though her voice didn't obey as her body slowly grew more tired than ever. He sighed and looked up. "Ino, please, Sakura is really sick, and I need to take her home now, otherwise, it could get worse."

Absent-mindedly, she stepped aside and gave them way, watching his fading back after he whispered a "thanks" to her. Ino only slumped in defeat, scolding herself for making a scene in front of everyone, in front of him, in front of the sick girl she felt bad for calling a _bitch_. "Sorry…" she whispered to the wind, hoping it would deliver the message to the girl he carried. _"That was the first time he called me by my first name." _she thought, eyes half-closed and lips curved into a small smile. _"You win, Sakura." _And she walked back to the school.

"Sasuke,"

"Hn?"

"Thank you…"

"For what?" he asked, his pace not slowing down one bit. "For not hurting anyone because of me." She continued, resting her head on the crook of his neck when he brought her whole body a bit higher so she could have a comfortable position. He supported more of her upper body, slightly lowering her lower part. "Hey, is it okay if I fly? You really need to get home quick." She gave a small nod. "Mm, go ahead." Not bothering to open her eyes to look at him. Sasuke brought out his wings and flew towards Kakashi's house.

* * *

"You want anything?" he asked after laying her down on his bed and pulling the covers over her. She shook her head and gave a weak smile to him. "Thanks for taking care of me..." Without giving it much thought, he managed a smile and gave a nod, indicating that it was nothing. He was about to leave when her hand reached up to grab his wrist, stopping him from walking away.

He turned to her, seeing her eyes closed. "Sasuke, can you… please stay here with me?" Her voice sounded like she was pleading him, whether she did or not, he would've stayed anyway. "Aa." And stay he did, sitting down beside her. Although, she wasn't content, every time she closed her eyes and was left alone, she always remembered Hellarium, and that caused her grip on him to tighten. She moved aside a bit, rolling to her side to face his seated figure as he raised a brow at the excess space she gave. "Lie down…" she murmured.

Sasuke didn't know, but every request and demand that came from her mouth, he couldn't bring himself to reject it. He concluded that it was because she was sick, nothing more. He obliged anyway, lying beside her, facing her as she gave a content smile and move her hand over his, intertwining her fingers with his own. He absent-mindedly did the same, only a bit tighter. With her eyes closed, she asked one more question. "Sasuke,"

"Hn?"

"Tonight, can you take me to the roof, and gaze at the stars with me?"

"Why tonight?"

"Because I heard from Shizune-san that the stars will shine their brightest tonight at this year, so, can you?" he closed his eyes and wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her closer as she buried her head on the crook of his neck. "Aa." He answered, lowering his head a bit, his nose breathing in the scent of her hair. He felt her lips curve into a smile, and heard her whisper another "thank you".

* * *

There was a soft knock on the door and he stirred slightly. He stopped when the smell of cherries and a mixture of strawberries invaded his nostrils and he slowly opened his eyes, nearly jumping when he saw Sakura lying on top of him, her fists clenched on his shirt. His face immediately turned red as his room's door opened, Kakashi's voice ringing in his ear.

"Yo, Sasuke, Tsunade told me that you…and…Sakura…went…home…" he said, with every pause and hesitance after seeing the two teens sharing a bed. "My, you've become quite naughty." Sasuke only glared at him, his eyebrows twitching as Kakashi chuckled and took out an orange book, opened a certain page and showed it to him. "This is the part wherein the two characters are doing the same thing you're doing!" he grinned beneath his mask as Sasuke struggled to get out of bed without waking Sakura up. "Well, I only came here to say that it's 18:32 PM, so, dinner's ready." And he left, closing the door behind him.

"Melanin-less hair pervert…" he muttered and shook Sakura gently, making her furrow her eyebrows and slowly open her eyelids. She looked up and blinked at him with half-lidded eyes. "What's up?" she yawned afterwards. Sasuke just sat up as she did the same, then place a hand over her forehead. "Your fever's gone." He looked at her. "How are you feeling?" She gave a grin and raised her hands into fists, giving a childish action of saying she was strong, curling up her arms as little muscles formed on her arms. "Great!"

"Hn." He smirked and got out of bed while she still stayed seated on the mattress, eyeing him as he raised a hand behind his head and scratched it, giving out a small yawn. His ears picked up the sound of her giggling and he turned to her, raising a brow. "Nothing." She said innocently and got up as well. "Hn." He shrugged. "Come on, Kakashi's back and said that dinner is ready."

She blushed and looked at him with wide eyes. "Does that mean… he saw us..?"

A shrug answered her as he took off his white polo shirt, leaving it on top of his desk. "Come on." She nodded and followed him downstairs. Kakashi greeted them, holding up three bottles of beer. "Let's celebrate the victory of chasing away Sakura's fever, as well as driving Hellarium for the time being!"

"Kakashi, how'd you know? And isn't it unhealthy for Sakura to drink something alcoholic after just-" he was cut off when Kakashi ignored him and rushed to Sakura, handing her the opened bottle and clinking his own with hers. "Drink up!" She only twitched the corner of her lip, trying to force a smile. Kakashi grinned some more. "Alright, let's get drunk and stay awake the whole night!"

Sasuke took the bottle from Sakura and threw it at Kakashi who caught it without spilling the contents. Wide eyes coming from Sakura and an annoyed look from Sasuke as Death continued to dance around and be hype, waving the two bottles in the air. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Sasuke asked, giving him a weird look. Kakashi stopped and glanced at him. "I'm feeling giddy today!" he said, tossing him a bottle. "Drink with me Sasuke!" he said and downed the remaining contents of his own bottle. "No way." He said, placing the beer on the table and walking away. Death only smiled at this. "Chicken."

He stopped and turned to Kakashi with an icy glare. "What-did-you-call-me?" he asked, slowly and dangerously low. The adult only shrugged. "I'm just saying the truth; you're chicken to even drink. I bet you get drunk faster than I can!" he grinned boyishly and downed the other bottle. "I have two cases more, minus the case where I got these three bottles from."

"First one who gets drunk washes the dishes for a month!" Sasuke said, taking a seat across Kakashi who opened a new bottle, slamming it down on the table without spilling the contents or breaking the bottle. "Deal." And thus, the drinking contest begins.

* * *

Sakura continued chewing on her rice and teriyaki as the two men who sat in front of her and across each other continued to down one bottle after the other. She glanced at the one and a half empty case and then turned back to their faces. Kakashi's visible eye was crinkling yet in a lazy look, a red tint across his cheeks. Sasuke was flushed as well, eyes in a half-lidded state but giving a determined look.

"Are you two drunkards?" she asked out of nowhere and took a sip from her canned orange juice, courtesy of Sasuke for he didn't want her to drink and get herself sick again. They only shook and immediately, they felt a bit dizzy. She sighed and glanced at the clock then stood up and walked over to Sasuke who looked up at her, his facial expression not changing.

"What is it?" he asked, hiccupping in between the lines. Sakura raised a brow and pulled him up with his arm, placing it over her shoulder. "Come on, you're taking a cold shower and coming with me to watch the stars." She grinned at him. "You said you will."

"But Ka-"

"I'll handle Kakashi." She said, eyeing the said man who blinked at them. "Kakashi-san, how about all of us take turns washing the dishes? You start tonight; I'll do tomorrow and Sasuke for the day after." The pure-breed gave a nod, hiccupping for a while and then stood to clean the mess up. "Thank you!" she beamed and helped the male teen beside her to climb the stairs.

"Sakura…" he muttered but she only pushed him inside the bathroom and tossed a towel. "You told me you'd watch the stars with me, so freshen up and we can go!" she grinned and he sighed, nodding and closing the door, locking it as he stripped his clothing and turned on the showers.

The Chosen smiled in satisfaction and turned to her bags, taking out some clothes to change into. She picked out a red shirt and a white skirt reaching below her knees then started to change. She sat down on Sasuke's bed and waited for the Fallen to finish. When he was, he stepped out clad in only a towel around his waist. His hair still retained its spikes yet a bit flattened out. She blushed and stared at him with wide eyes as he used another towel to dry his hair.

He opened an eye to her, then his other one followed suit. "What?" she blinked and stared at him. "You're topless…" he shrugged. "So?" she blushed some more. "You don't care if you're topless in front of a girl?" He narrowed his eyes at this. "Why should I? Are you thinking inappropriate things because of me being topless?" she looked down and stammered. "W-well, I-I'm j-just not u-used to it…"

"Hn." He said and took out a pair of dark blue jeans and a white shirt over it. "So, if you see someone naked, be it a girl or a boy, you won't care?" she asked. He pulled on the shirt after putting on the pants. "Look, it's only the mind that makes it look… bad." He turned to her. "Even if you're naked in front of me, it doesn't mean anything bad, unless I think of thoughts that are not supposed to be thought of."

"Well, yeah, but what about dignity or respect?"

"Mind you, everyone looses it when they see a baby naked."

"But that's different!"

"Why are we having this conversation?"

"Um…"

"Let's just go." He said, pushing the door open and waiting for her to step out of his room. He led her to the attic of the house and opened the top window, climbing out of it as he checked if it was safe. He reached down, offering a hand to her as she took it, feeling her feet leave the wooden floor when he pulled her up with ease, since he added a good amount of chakra in his arm.

What he did next made her yelp, since he carried her bridal style again, and jumped off the roof. Sighing since she knew and was a bit used to it, Sakura eyed him when his black wings sprouted behind his back and he headed to somewhere she didn't know. "Where are we going?" she asked. He glanced down at her then turned back to looking ahead. "You'll see."

He stopped on a small clearing, trees surrounding it and a few mountains afar. She looked up, eyes wide when she saw how big and round the moon was, illuminating the whole place, the grass glowing thanks to the amount of dew. The stars were still visible, but a bit faint, thanks to the light the moon gave, yet it was still a beautiful sight. Sakura gasped when a hand pulled her down as she fell onto the grass, landing on her butt as she glared at Sasuke who smirked at her.

"You should've told me, I wouldn't be wearing a white skirt if I knew…" she muttered, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them, resting her chin above her knees. "You never did ask, plus, it's a sort of, surprise, as well as a place that I go to when I want to be alone or just feel like being alone."

"Then why did you bring me here?"

"Why not?" he shrugged, leaning back a bit, his elbows supporting his whole weight as his left leg was bended, the other resting on the ground. His eyes turned to the night sky as dark grey clouds began to hide a few parts of the moon, giving the stars the spotlight for the time being. "Besides, I remember that this clearing is a good spot for star gazing."

She gave a nod at this and watched the twinkling diamonds high in the sky. "I agree." She turned back to him after a few seconds. "Sasuke," he glanced at her. "What are you exactly afraid of?" she asked. He pondered a bit and closed his eyes. "Loosing someone close, why?"

"I notice how you distance yourself to other people, and I think that we wouldn't even be this close to each other if I wasn't a Chosen, am I right?" as much as he hated to admit it, he nodded slowly, unsure of his answer. "But you know what?" he turned back to her as she gave a smile. "I still would've tried to befriend you and get closer to you, despite what may happen, or whatever you do."

"Why would you do that?"

Sakura's smile only broadened. "I have a thing for loners like you, and I don't want anyone being alone and feeling lonely, no matter how much they deny it. Deep down, I know they want someone to be with them, I should know, especially after loosing my family to a single Secular."

"So, you just befriend any loner-type of guy, I don't see you doing that to Gaara."

She stuck her tongue out. "You told me to keep away from him, and besides, he's a little bit impossible to befriend since anyone who gets closer to him, except teachers and his siblings, would be in coffin-like sand."

Sasuke snorted. "Not me." He murmured and only earned a giggle from Sakura. He raised a brow at her as she continued to stare at the stars. "Sasuke," she didn't wait for a reply from him. "Do you… like someone?" he gaped at her as he sat up straight, not tearing his eyes off of her. "What made you ask that?" she smiled a bit and half-closed her eyes. "It's nothing really; it's just that, I really like someone, but… I doubt he'd return it."

"You'll never know unless you try, right?"

"Yeah, but I can tell, just the way he acts, and just how… his eyes look at me. There are times when they show concern, worry and care, but I bet it's only as a friend type of thing." She looked at him with those eyes, they were slightly watery, making them shine as a cool breeze blew at them, swaying their bangs and pushing back their hair. He stared at her, thoughts running wild as she kept her gaze locked on him. "How do you know?" he asked.

She shrugged, not knowing how she was leaning closer to him, and her eyes slowly drooping. "I just know, and I think I can prove it." He knew that she was referring to him, and he found himself frozen on the spot, though there were no tints of red across their cheeks, even a slight pink was not evident. He was aware that his eyelids were closing, halfway though, he stared at her, her face close, her lips just a mere inch away, and without much of a thought, he closed his eyes fully and leaned down to close the gap for them both, for her.

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Fallen: Chapter 6: I want to…_

He made a jump shot and the ball went in. _"I asked you if you feel anything towards me, and you said no. If that's true, then you don't even care if I die?" _he bent down a bit, hands on his knees as he panted, sweat trickling down his face. _"Do you care only because it's your job as my guardian?"

* * *

_

_A/N: Another chapter done! Voting is closed, the winner: Yakuza II!_


	6. I want to

_A/N: Prepare yourselves! First attempt for Lemon!

* * *

_

**Fallen **

It never occurred to him that he would fall in love. He always avoided every possibility or signs that came to him. Yet what happened had just come out of the blue, and he was caught off guard. He didn't know what caused him to break down his barrier, what made him feel this way, or what she possessed that just made him crazy about her.

Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes, trying to calm down as he held onto the orange ball and began to dribble it slowly. It's been an hour since practice ended, but he decided to stay to clear his mind. The Fallen was still unsure what had come over him when he closed the gap of his and her lips.

"Damn it!" he cursed and shot the ball towards the ring. It circled around the metal ring and went inside, hitting the floor and bouncing a bit. He panted, bent down and had his hands on his knees. He's been here for two-three hours of straight practice, shooting, running, dribbling, stretching and anything else he could think of to get his mind off of someone.

"Sasuke?"

"_Shit."

* * *

_

**_Chapter 6: I want to…_**

"What?" he asked, not bothering to look at her. "If this is about what happened the other night, my answer is still the same." He heard her sigh and he just picked up the ball and continued dribbling and shooting. "That's not why I'm here idiot…" she muttered, loud enough for him to hear. "Kakashi told me to go here and give you these. He has to stay for a while to finish some paperwork, and since you both wouldn't like me to go home alone, I guess I'll have to wait here for you or Kakashi."

"Just leave it there." He said and continued to shoot some hoops. Sakura knitted her brows and stuck her tongue out at him before putting the water and towel on a bench. She sat down beside it and watched him tire himself out. _"I don't even understand your answer…" _

He made a jump shot and the ball went in. _"I asked you if you feel anything towards me, and you said no. If that's true, then you don't even care if I die?" _he bent down a bit, hands on his knees as he panted, sweat trickling down his face. _"Do you care only because it's your job as my guardian?" _

"Sakura,"

The two turned to the doorway to see Ten-Ten, grinning at them. "Oh, hey Sasuke!" said teen gave a nod and proceeded to practice. "Neji told me you and the other guys will be having your daily once-a-month-hang-out! Same time, same place! He also told me to take Sakura home or something, just as long as she won't wander off on her own."

"Go ahead." He said bluntly, and shot a few more shots. Ten-Ten blinked and turned to Sakura, who glared at him then got up, stomping towards the Huntress and pulled her out of the gym. "Aren't you going to say goodbye?" she asked the pink-haired teen. "Don't give a damn!" she stopped and turned back to the gym, just to see Sasuke staring at them then quickly look away. "See if I care what happens to you, you jerk!" and she marched off once more, leaving a confused Ten-Ten and an irritated Sasuke who sighed and proceeded to the locker room.

"Good for nothing- stupid air-headed- ugh! Damn him!"

Ten-Ten sweat dropped at this and thought of a few things before grinning and pulling the third year student to the direction of the mall. "Why don't you tell me all about it as we venture to the mall?" Sakura managed a small smile and gave a nod. "It's about what happened two nights ago, when I was sick and finally felt better, I asked him to watch the stars with me."

* * *

"Hey teme, what's up with you?" Naruto asked who was seated on his left, ready to take another piece of Korean barbeque. Shikamaru, who sat across from the blonde turned to Sasuke and Neji, who was beside the lazy genius, looking at the eighteen year old adjacent to him. "You haven't even touched your food." Naruto added.

Sasuke seemed to not hear a word his best friend said so he continued to stare off into space, looking like he's only staring at his steaming bowl of rice. A sigh escaped his lips as he leaned back, head shot upwards and eyes closed, eyebrows furrowed to indicate that he was in deep thinking. The three men exchanged looks before nodding at each other. Naruto gave a grin. "You're thinking about Sakura right?"

Oh, that hit a nerve! He immediately glared at Naruto as the other two nodded. "Yep," Shikamaru said. "Definitely about Sakura." Neji continued. "Shut up." The Fallen muttered and leaned back again. "Tell us all about it." Naruto said, eating his dinner as the other two followed suit. Sasuke took his chopsticks, fingering it before snapping it in half and began to eat. "I kissed her." And he popped the pork into his mouth, along with some rice.

Naruto and Shikamaru spat out their food while Neji choked onto his. The three stared at him with wide eyes as he continued to speak calmly, too calm for their own good. "She asked me to go stargazing with her, so I took her to a clearing, then we talked. Afterwards…" he looked down, pausing a bit. "She just leaned towards me with her eyes closed, and… I don't know what possessed me to close the gap between our lips."

Neji recovered from his shock and cleared his throat. "You-"

* * *

"-kissed him?" Sakura shook her head. "I attempted to but he was the one who did it. Then, well, he pushed me down and well… went down towards my neck…" at this, she was blushing furiously. "I didn't make a move to stop him but just… well… moaned and pulled onto him… I think I encouraged him to continue but after a while, he stopped and got off of me, he picked me up and brought us home, then didn't say a word. When I confronted him about it, he just said it was nothing."

"Now that's just wrong, he's supposed to at least say something!" Ten-Ten said as they reached the mall. "I know, but Sasuke is Sasuke, he won't change that easily." She sighed. Ten-Ten cast a worried look at her then turned back to the front, seeing Hinata and Ino checking out some clothes. "Hey, Hinata, Ino!" she yelled, catching the two girls' attention as they waved back.

"Hi Sakura, how're things going with you and Sasuke?" Ino asked with a smile but it soon faded when Sakura looked down. Ten-ten whispered to Ino everything and the blonde girl only frowned then brightened up, taking Sakura's hand. "Come on, I think I know how to cheer you up!" She blinked. "How?" and Ino only grinned. "Shopping!"

"But-"

"No buts!" Ino scolded, taking a few clothes from a rack and handing it to Sakura. Then, she pushed the girl into a dressing room, telling her to try the clothes on. When Sakura did, she blushed, most of the clothes Ino handed her were either too revealing or too tight, showing off her curves. She stepped out of the dressing room and looked at the three girls in disbelief.

Ten-Ten took a picture of her and sent it to Neji, with a message that says "show it to Sasuke". Sakura only blinked then panicked. "Did you just take my picture?" the Huntress nodded and Ino grinned while Hinata smiled. "It suits you Sakura." The Hyuuga said. Sakura looked down at her clothes, a black tube top that exposed her belly, over it a white jacket and a camouflage mini-skirt, plus black boots and a black felt hat. "Yeah, she's right." Ten-Ten said, nodding her head. "Well, go back inside and change then we'll buy the whole thing."

"But I-"

"If it's money you're worried about, I have a discount card here, and I can pay for it." The half-demon said, smiling. "No! I can pay for it but I-" Ino waved her a dismissive hand. "Consider it as my apology gift for always treating you bad before." Sakura sighed and nodded in defeat as the three girls clapped their hands in triumph. Ten-Ten took the clothes and boots from her after she changed back into her school uniform and waited for the Huntress and Demon with Hinata outside the store.

"Hey Hinata, what were you two doing here anyway?"

"Ino insisted on helping me in picking out a few clothes."

"Why is that?" Hinata blushed and looked away. At this, Sakura grinned mischievously. "It's because of Naruto huh?" Hinata's eyes went wide as she turned to Sakura who laughed. "I knew it."

Time passed until her three friends had left and she was alone, walking back to Kakashi's place. She felt someone's presence that she turned around, clutching her messenger bag and the paper bag that held her newly bought clothes, eyes dilating as she shifted a bit, afraid that her gut feeling is correct. Seeing no one around, she sighed and turned back to the path going home yet someone was blocking her way.

She was about to yell when a hand covered her mouth from behind, making her drop her bags as she struggled to get away from the grip of the person behind her. She froze when a warm breath leaned on her neck, feeling the man smirk and hearing the one in front of her snicker. _"What do they want from me?" _she thought.

Her eyes traveled downward, seeing the guy before her holding onto an empty bottle of alcohol. _"Drunkards…" _she thought, her nostrils familiarizing itself with the smell of beer. "Ojyou-san, why are you alone here at this time of night?" she shuddered when the guy behind her had reached up to touch her rear, the other hand rising to feel her chest. By instinct, she elbowed the guy and quickly ran away from them as fast as she could.

"Bitch!" the guy cursed as he and his companion chased after her. "Get back here!" clearly, it proved that one was temperamental, and the other was playful since he was teasing her while running after her. "Come now miss, we promise it'll be fun if you come with us!" Sakura only ignored them and continued running. She could hear their footsteps closing in on her and she guessed that fate was against her tonight, for she tripped and the two guys had caught her.

"Let me go!" she yelled, kicking and struggling to get them both off of her. They only laughed maniacally and knocked her out. One of them hoisted her above his shoulder and carried her somewhere, his companion following. Before she lost consciousness, one name crossed her mind: Sasuke.

* * *

_Crash!_

It caused a commotion, for the whole place stilled and had gotten quiet. He only looked down, eyes wide and hands shaking. His friends looked at him, wondering what had caused him to drop the fragile tea cup. It wasn't like him to be this clumsy to break that porcelain piece, much less that wasn't his.

"Oi, Sasuke, what's wrong with you?" Neji asked as a waiter approached and cleaned it up, eyeing them with concern. "Is something wrong sir?" Sasuke blinked, and turned to everyone who had their eyes on him. He looked down again and shook his head. "No, it's nothing." He sighed and turned to the waiter. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright sir." He smiled then left.

Naruto poked him, waiting to receive his hit on the head but nothing happened. His best friend just stared down, eyes seeming to be in deep thinking. The blonde demon turned to the other two who were also looking at Sasuke with questioning looks. They opened and closed their mouths, not knowing what to exactly ask or say, until Sasuke stood up and placed his share of money on the table. "I have to go." He said and left, taking his backpack with him.

"What's up with that guy?" Shikamaru asked as Neji shrugged and took out his phone to check if he had any messages. "Whoa." He said, eyeing the picture he got from Ten-Ten. "I guess I'll just forward this to Sasuke since he left." He said, typing a message that said "from Ten-Ten" then sending it to his Angelus friend. Shikamaru eyed the picture and shrugged as Neji showed it to Naruto who whistled. "If I didn't like someone else, I'd go for Sakura."

"You like somebody?" Neji asked.

Shikamaru snorted, muttering "Hinata" under his breath. Neji glared at Naruto who smiled sheepishly and continued eating, ignoring the death threats that Neji had said to him. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and took a sip from his cup of tea. "How troublesome." And indeed it was.

* * *

"_Damn it!" _he thought as he continued running, his right hand clutched onto the black strap of his backpack which contained his school supplies and uniform. He didn't bother to change his basketball attire. _"Sakura, why did… I suddenly hear your voice..?" _he shut his eyes as he continued to run, not caring where, but just following his instincts.

His feet brought him to the forest as he skidded to a stop, catching his breath and sharpening his hearing instincts. He closed his eyes, trying to feel the wind, straining his ears to pick up any sound that has something to do with Sakura. A faint shout of "no" brought him to running again, towards the direction where he assumed he heard it. _"Sakura, please be okay! I want you to be okay!" _he shut his eyes again, feeling like he's about to shed tears.

The booming sound of thunder echoed amongst the trees, followed by a flash of lightning, and soon, rain drops falling down as he still ran, not stopping until he could see Sakura. _"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have lied to you! I should have just told you my damn feelings!" _he slowed his pace as soon as he heard the ripping of fabric and laughter of two men, plus the blood-curling scream of a girl. He trembled when he got closer, and at that time, he dropped his bag, he felt his mark sting, he felt his eyes shift from onyx to crimson, and… he felt his mind go blank, and a sudden craving for blood to be spilled.

She yelled, telling them to stop, her voice called out his name, and he stood there, watching with wide red eyes, brows knitted, fists and teeth clenched, black wings sprouted from his back, and black marks all around his body. His full Fallen mode has just been activated again. "Fuck off!" he yelled and charged at the two men, wrapping his fingers on their necks, slamming them hard onto a thick tree trunk, pinning them there as his grip tightened.

"W-what the h-hell a-are y-you?" one managed to stammer but Sasuke only tightened his grip and threw them upwards with such force. While they were airborne, he took out some nylon strings where a few kunai and shuriken were attached to one end. He eyed his preys, throwing the weapons at the right areas and wielding them the way he had in mind. "Sofuushasen no Tachi!" (Sharingan-controlled triple windmill blades) and the wires wrapped around them, trapping them like a web as they stayed stuck in the air.

Sasuke pinned the wires with a few of his kunai and took one end of the string which connected to all. He bit onto it, smirking as his hands did a few seals, then, with his mind, he thought: Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu! And fire erupted from his mouth, following the strings, burning the whole nylon rope until it reached the two men who screamed in agony.

Sakura's eyes widened when she saw the marks and how he smirked sadistically, his eyes had the look of bloodlust. She shivered some more when he turned around to face her, walking closer to her. Sakura brought up her hands, hugging herself as the rain continued to pour, surprisingly, not putting off the fire until the victims had burnt to ashes.

She avoided making eye contact, lowering her head some more, trying to cover up her whole body as she trembled from the cold breeze and his intent gaze. She was nearly naked in front of him, one of the straps of her bra was ripped, the other ready to slide off her shoulder. Her uniform was torn, making her look like a battered girl, a beggar, and worse of, as well as truthfully, a rape victim. She had bruises and marks almost all over her body, and she shook violently from the traumatizing incident, especially since there were two men who tried to steal her virginity.

Her shaking ceased as she took a sharp intake of breath, holding it in when he had knelt down on one knee before her and when a hand reached up to her shoulder, the other wiping away her tears, only to be replaced by more fresh ones. What surprised her was that she didn't see any marks on his arms. Next, she noticed his wings spread out and cover the two of them as he lifted her off the ground, carrying her bridal style, holding her close and protectively.

"_He's… different… there's something about the way he carries me…" _she thought when he took off in the air after taking his bag. _"He no longer holds me tight in a possessive manner, but more in a protective gesture." _Her muscles relaxed and she leaned closer to him, shedding tears. "Don't worry…" he whispered. "It won't happen again, I promise." He felt her shiver, and he looked down at her worriedly, not bothering to say anything, knowing it would only make her worse if he said something else. Sasuke just flew home faster, reaching his room's window in seconds and opened it, letting her step inside first before he balanced himself on the window pane and retracted his wings, entering his room and closing the window.

He looked at her as she trembled, drenched in rain water. Sasuke approached her, he himself soaked as well. "Sakura," he called out, grabbing her shoulders gently and looking at her. He was startled when she threw herself at him, clutching on his wet shirt and crying her heart out, saying how she was so scared and how she wanted to die at that time. "I feel so impure, I feel… so dirty!" he pushed her away gently, gazing at her with serious eyes. "Let me see…" he said.

She blinked at him.

"Let me see if you really are dirty…" he added, removing her torn clothes slowly, careful not to touch any of her private parts or come in contact with her skin. She was left standing there, only in her underwear, her face beet red as he gazed at her. "It's not," he said after a while. "Though you may have been touched, bruised and bitten," he walked closer, pointing at her mark. "They cannot claim you." She looked down, not wanting to meet his gaze. "Look at me Sak," he said and she obeyed, raising her head. "You can wash them off, they still haven't claimed you, and they never will. Not as long as I'm around to stop them."

"Sasuke…" she whispered his name. "I've realized that I was lying to you, I was lying to myself, to be honest; I only denied my true feelings, because I was a coward. But running away from it would only end up bad, just like what happened." He inched closer. "What I'm trying to say is, I love you. I know it now, I'm sure of it, and I won't deny it."

He received a hug, her arms wrapping around his neck in a grip that meant that she never wants to let go. "I love you too…" she whispered, still crying, but smiling. With her eyes half-closed, she looked up at him, Sasuke returning the same gaze. "I…" she said in a weak voice. "I want to…" he leaned closer. "Say it." He said. "I want to start a family with you, I want you to be the father of my kids someday, I want you to claim me as yours."

At this, he held her close to his body, the warmth of each radiating. "I want to have you." He whispered in her ear, lowering his head and kissing her neck. She read somewhere from a book, that if a guy kissed you on the neck, it meant that he wants you. "I want to love you, I want to claim you." And he pushed their bodies over to his bed, him lying on top of her, crushing his lips against hers, heating things up when their tongues met, dancing a wild tango-like dance, eyes closed and moans escaping their lips, names being called out and hands gripping tighter.

She pushed him, both sitting up as her hands pulled off his shirt with his help, tossing it aside and lying back down on the bed, sucking on skins and nibbling on ears, breaths shallow and panting. He licked her lower lip, trying to soothe the bruise that was there, and then began to trail wet kisses to her jaw, down to her neck, sucking onto her smooth and supple skin, smirking when she had moaned, crying out his name. His right hand brushed pass her body, tracing every curve there was, memorizing every detail that she had.

He stopped on her mid thigh, moving his hand towards the inner part, pulling down her underwear, glancing at her briefly for permission she granted him, and with two fingers, being the index and middle, he pressed it inside of her, careful not to cause her too much pain. Her brows knitted as she bit her lip, at this, he pulled out his hand and lowered his head, kissing her softly on the lips, caressing her near-to-bleeding lip. He parted a bit, looking at her, wiping a sweat away from her brow and face. "Sakura, don't bite your lip," he leaned down again. "Bite mine if you don't want to yell." He said, locking his lips with hers when his fingers entered her core.

Instead of biting his lip, she just moaned in between kisses, saying his name in a muffled voice inside his mouth, her hands wrapping around his body tighter, pulling him closer, her nails making scratch marks across his back, trying hard to not give him deep injuries. In and out went his fingers until he felt them wet and sticky, parting from her lip, he hovered above her, smirked and licked his fingers, making her shudder and more aroused then ever. "Sweet." He whispered and pulled down his shorts with her help.

Sasuke pulled her to an embrace, looking down at her back where the hook of her bra was. His hands made its way there, unlocking the remaining clothing she had, leaving her fully naked in front of him. She laid back down as one hand cupped and massaged one of her breasts, earning another moan from her as she arched onto him. They parted for a bit as he turned to face her. "You… ready..?" he asked and she nodded, gripping his arms when he took a deep breathe-in.

* * *

His ears picked up the sound of yelling, and maybe even moans. He looked at the stairway, staring at it for a while before smiling slightly behind his mask and shook his head. "Teens these days…" he then continued to read his newly bought novel, flipping to the next page and chuckling at some parts that he found funny. "Jiraiya was right, this book does help stop the mark from spreading." He grinned and continued reading, ignoring the groans coming from the half-breed's room.

"Hmm… I wonder how many Uchiha brats I have to watch over someday?" he asked himself, tapping his chin with his index finger. "Speaking of brats, I wonder if Iruka will have Angel-Demon Uzumaki brats as well? Although, with Neji being Hinata's cousin, it could take a long while for it to happen."

He stopped with his thoughts about the future and turned his head towards the window, eyes narrowing as he discarded the book and walked over to the door, opening it and taking a peek outside. He sighed, gave a curse, and then closed the door again. "Geez, of all time and of all days…" he muttered and trudged up the stairs, stopping in front of Sasuke's room, then raised a fist to knock when the door opened, Sasuke's head popping out.

"I know, rogues." He said, stepping out, clad only in baggy dark blue jogging pants. He put on the black shirt he was carrying and turned to the stairway. "How many?" Kakashi followed his gaze. "Three." He turned back to the half-breed's room's door to see Sakura step out, dressed in a loose red shirt and a long white skirt. "Be careful you two." She whispered, head lowered.

"I'll go ahead." Kakashi said, smiling at them then ran down the stairs, leaving the two teens behind. "As much as I'd like to continue what we were doing," he grinned when she punched him playfully on the arm. "Rogues are calling." He gave her a light kiss on the forehead, promising her that he'll be back.

She sighed and went back inside his room, sat down on his bed and hugged her knees close to her chest, her hands clasped in a prayer form as she wished for Sasuke and Kakashi's safety, unbeknownst to her was a solitary figure approaching the door, staring at her.

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Fallen: Chapter 7: Heaven and Hell_

"So we finally meet in person…" he hissed, raising her whole body up, choking her at the process. He smirked when her hands tried to pry her cold, pale fingers off of her neck. "Such soft and smooth hands dear Chosen, too bad I have to take you to my realm down below." he transferred outside the house, startling the two men who had just finished eliminating the rogues. "Say goodbye to your guardian and adviser." And a black portal appeared behind him as he took a step back, entering the abyss, bringing Sakura with him.

* * *

_A/N: I'm sure you all know who that guy is! Sorry if the lemon/lime sucked. I'm a newbie for that. _


	7. Heaven and Hell

_A/N: For those who guessed Orochimaru, you are correct! Thanks Akki-chan for suggesting the same idea I have in mind! Hehe!

* * *

_

**Fallen**

Whether it was instincts or not, she was sure someone was outside the door, watching her. She could feel his eyes on her, and it only brought back her fear of being touched by other men. Despite a certain Fallen's claim on her, she still felt like she was untouched. Her eyes went wide when that person entered the room, skin deathly pale, eyes a bright yellow, his hair was long and pitch black. She knew, just from the sinister smirk, as well as from the three pairs of battered bat-like wings, that this was none other than Hellarium.

* * *

_**Chapter 7: Heaven and Hell**_

He laughed, and she backed away to the wall, feeling trapped and helpless. She wanted to call for help, but it wouldn't work, her voice won't obey her command. Or maybe it was because he had silenced her with a snap of his fingers.

"So we finally meet in person…" he hissed, raising her whole body up, choking her at the process. He smirked when her hands tried to pry her cold, pale fingers off of her neck. "Such soft and smooth hands dear Chosen, too bad I have to take you to my realm down below." he transferred outside the house, startling the two men who had just finished eliminating the rogues. "Say goodbye to your guardian and adviser." And a black portal appeared behind him as he took a step back, entering the abyss, bringing Sakura with him.

She opened her mouth, no sound came out but the two knew who she was calling out to. Kakashi and Sasuke rushed to the portal in an attempt to pull her out. It was like déjà vu, just like the day when a secular had taken Sakura. His hands were near her outstretched one, and like slow motion, he was going to make it! But then, Orochimaru had smirked and pulled her backwards, causing the Fallen to stumble on the ground and watch as the portal slowly fade, taking away the only person he has finally learned to love.

"Sakura!"

Kakashi reached his side and pulled him up. "Come on, we can still save her, it'll take a long time to open a portal but we can make it." He brought out his wings and told his pupil to do the same. Both then headed towards Jiaraiya's place, at the same time, sending a telepathic message to Kakashi's counterpart as well as the other guardians of the Chosen.

"_Sakura, I promise, I'll bring you back, wait for me." _He thought, clenching his fists at the process and eyes narrowing, black shifting to red from time to time. Death noticed the Angelus' behavior and couldn't help but smile slightly. _"He finally found someone he would love and care for."

* * *

_

"Hellarium took Sakura?"

Neji nodded as Naruto sat down in disbelief. Shikamaru, who seemed like he wasn't interested, turned to them, eyebrows raised as his gaze landed on Sasuke and Kakashi. "How can he take her when you two were there?" Kakashi sighed and leaned back on the back rest, looking up at the ceiling. "He took her."

"Hellarium took Sakura?"

"Yes." Neji said again when the blonde demon asked.

"Hellarium took-" Iruka bonked Naruto on the head and sighed. "Anyway, we'll have to wait for Jiraiya before we can open the portal." When he said that, Sasuke stood up and walked towards Jiraiya's room, knocked on the door and told him to come out. The others blinked and looked at him, not used to the way he's acting lately. They turned to Kakashi who shrugged. "He's in love." Neji narrowed his eyes at this and turned to Sasuke. "You fell in love with her?" Shikamaru also turned to his Angelus friend. "You do know that it was forbidden from the start. You're repeating what your ancestors did in the past."

Naruto, on the other hand, had a different reaction. "Alright! You finally admit it! Way to go Sasuke!" the others sighed and Iruka only hit him on the head again. Neji approached Sasuke and placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tight as Sasuke turned to him with narrowed eyes. The Hyuuga only glared. "Did you claim her already?" he asked, hoping he'd say no. Unfortunately, that smirk only proved him wrong and Neji couldn't help but give his friend a punch. "Out of the four of us, you were the one I least expect who would ever fall in love with the Chosen! She has to remain pure Sasuke! Now how can she ever unleash her hidden powers? It's been decades and still, the same damn mistake happens! That's why this world still hasn't been in pure peace or pure chaos!"

Sasuke only laughed a bit, getting on Neji's nerves. "If the place was in pure chaos, everyone dies and goes to Hell. If it's absolute peace, everyone will still die but go to Heaven." He faced Neji with sharingan eyes, the smirk not leaving his face. "It would be too perfect if it was peaceful, on the other hand, it would be too problematic. Either way, it still won't be a good life to live. We make mistakes Neji, it proves how much we can't be perfect despite how many times we try to be." He closed his eyes and calmed down a bit. "That's why the world is still in balance. When there's Good, there's Evil. When there's Light, there's dark. Everything has always been balanced from the very beginning."

Shikamaru crossed his arms at this. "Good point though." Neji, however, was infuriated. "Even so, why are you preventing, why is it that the Angelus always has to stop the law and prophecy of the Heavens? What is it that you are planning? The resurrection of your race..?" Sasuke shook his head. "That was the original plan of my ancestors, however," he looked at all of them, a small smile on his lips, that was a first for his friends. They've never seen him smile, it was always a smirk. "That's all in the past, Sakura taught me how to love and feel again, she taught me something I could never learn from anyone else. It's a complicated feeling, but that's what makes me have the will to fight." He looked down a bit. "Besides, aren't you glad that she isn't a virgin anymore? At this rate, Orochimaru won't be able to let her choose eternal chaos."

Silence answered him as everyone had let the information sink into their heads. Kakashi rubbed his chin at this, thinking about it. "He does have a point there, and yeah, that's already an advantage. Still, care to tell us what's your real motive?" his adopted son shrugged and turned back to the door, a smirk on his face. "I love her."

* * *

"Ugh!"

Her head turned to the side from the impact of the slap he gave her. She slowly turned back to him, eyes dilating in fear as Orochimaru snickered. He was dressed in an all black robe, his wings were out and everywhere she looked, there were little imps who sneered at her. Sakura shook, afraid of what they might do to her. Her wrists were bound by thin wires, her waist was also secured with the same type of rope and she was bound on a wooden cross that was black and stained with blood. When Hellarium had taken her here, he ordered female devils to strip her off of her garments and clothes her with a pure white satin dress, looking like she was going to be sacrificed to Orochimaru himself.

"I was originally going to have you choose eternal chaos, however, because of an Uchiha's claim on you…" he narrowed his eyes at her. "You no longer have the power to do so." He smirked. "Sasuke is very tricky…"

"W-what do you mean…?" she asked weakly, her breaths shallow because of the beating she received from the man before her. "He knows that I will take you here one day, and before that day happens, he took a first step to preventing me from gaining what I want, he claimed you as his." His mind began to think of a few things and he snickered at the idea he had come up with. "He used you to defeat me."

"T-That's a lie!"

"Oh really? Dear Chosen, a Fallen doesn't feel, love is pathetic to them, they breed or mate because they need to keep their kin alive and still productive. He merely did two with one move. He managed to defeat me at the same time, resurrect his family. You became a victim of it."

"Sasuke is different! He didn't use me! He did it because he loves me!" she yelled, determined to prove to Hell's leader how wrong he is about Sasuke. "I detect doubt in your voice. But it's hard to tell with your fiery spirit." He sighed at this. "But I'm sure by now, he's forgotten all about you."

"That's not true!"

"Prove it then, he isn't here yet Chosen, and it's been a long time. How sure are you that he's coming? He won't come for you, especially since he now knows that I can't win. Now I'll have to wait for another Decade." He caught the look of her widened eyes and he smirked once more. "He won't save you, believe me on that." And he turned his back on her, walking away, leaving her reflect on the words he let her hear. _"No. I won't believe him. He's lying, Sasuke will come!" _his words haunted her head once more. _"He will… right..?" _She shook her head, erasing the doubt that her mind now bore. But still, she can't help but somehow feel like… _"Sasuke… used me…" _

Unaware was she that Orochimaru had laughed from afar, sensing how she had given in to him, to his trick. He walked back to her and noticed how her face was in deep pain. The look of hurt was evident. "Now, what has gotten into you?" She shook and let the tears fall. "There, there…" he said, releasing the ropes that bound her as her body fell from the cross, him catching her. "Don't worry about it too much, unlike Sasuke, I won't leave you." And her green eyes slowly turned to dark and lifeless ones. "Trust me." He said, placing an index finger below her chin and tilting her head up to meet his face. He leaned down as Sakura stared at him, her mouth slowly opening. "I… trust…"

"_I love you. I know it now, I'm sure of it, and I won't deny it."_

Her eyes widened, shifting back to green as she pushed Orochimaru away. She held onto her head, hearing Sasuke's voice, recalling the words and confession he gave. Orochimaru furrowed his eyebrows. _"I need to make her mine in order to get what I want at least. Her powers can be unleashed. Her full heal can make me grow stronger to defeat Life and Death combined." _He pushed her against the cross, pinning her there as she whimpered from the pain. Her eyes looked at him with fear as Orochimaru gazed back with a forced "nice" look. "Your head is hurting because of him, if he truly loves you, he would've been here, or he wouldn't cause you this much pain." He made her face him, their lips centimeters apart. _"One kiss is all I need to have full control over you Chosen." _

And yet, there was something about her that made him lust over her. She was beautiful, no doubt about it. She had a unique hair color that smelled so divine, and her eyes were an enchanting emerald, not to mention how smooth her skin felt against his pale and rough ones. He was a Devil after all, and instead of the one who does temptation, he was being tempted by this girl in front of him. She was more than an Angel, and it made him lust her more. _"So this is what the Fallen has seen in her… such innocence can drive anyone crazy…" _he said, gazing into her eyes.

Sakura couldn't move. Her mind told her to knee Hellarium on the crotch but she just can't. He had held her body still against the cross, and slowly, his right hand was lifting her skirt up and feeling her thighs. She shivered with fear, yet her mind kept playing back the night Sasuke did the same thing to her. And for that, Orochimaru used this as his advantage. He smirked inwardly, planting in her mind who he was, and he opened his mouth, his voice sounding different as he mentioned her name, and she opened her eyes in shock to see Sasuke in front of her.

"Sasuke-kun..?" she asked, unsure. He only gazed back at her with the look she knows so well, and without any hesitations, she embraced him and began to cry. Feeling his arms wrap around her waist. "I thought you'd never come! I grew worried and afraid!" she exclaimed as he hushed her, stroking her pink hair. "Don't worry, I won't let that happen again…"

* * *

"Yosh," Jiraiya stood up, discarding the white piece of chalk he used earlier to create a six-pointed star. "I can open a portal to bring you to Hell or Heaven, but only one can go, and there's time limit. If you don't make it in time, there's no way you can ever go back." He said sternly, eyeing the whole group. He took out a black book and read a certain page. "I need to know first, who's going?"

"I will."

Sasuke stepped forward as Jiraiya told him to stand in the middle of the star. He was clad in his almost all-black attire, a.k.a. Battle clothes, making him look like he was part of a Yakuza. The others also wore the same clothes, black shirt, dark blue denim pants and a black trench coat reaching four inches above their ankles. They also had fingerless gloves on their hands as Jiraiya made sure Sasuke had his black wrist band with him in case he needed his katana. "I'll tell you where you should stand then," he said to the others. "And once you're there, prepare the seal of the tiger and concentrate your energy ki on the middle. Keep it up until he and Sakura returns, otherwise, the portal will close and we can definitely not bring them back."

"Holy crap! That's risky!" Naruto exclaimed. "I know, but it has to be done." He told Iruka to stay on one end, opposite to him was Kakashi. They were the north and south point. He told Naruto to stand next to Kakashi as Neji did the same to Iruka, and then pointed the one between Naruto and Iruka where Shikamaru stood. Lastly, he positioned himself on the remaining point and all six prepared the seal of the tiger. "Ready Sasuke?" he asked. The teen nodded, standing in the middle. "Alright, now!" and they closed their eyes, concentrating their chakra on the middle. Wind started to gather around them as a portal below Sasuke slowly opened, transporting him to Hell, the others still holding their positions.

He fell all the way down and landed on the ground on one knee. It was too dark, but he could still see none the less. Sasuke searched the area, looking for any sign of pink or white. The only thing he caught sight of was a single Secular, glaring at him, it's teeth dripping with sticky saliva and tongue sticking out of its mouth, trying to have a taste of the Fallen. He glared at it and brought out his katana, readying an attack stance as the rogue charged towards him without hesitation.

With a swift move, he ducked and plunged the sword's point towards the secular's chest, hearing the blade stab right through its thick scaly skin and pierce the soft muscles of the heart, purple blood oozing out. He avoided the sticky liquid and slashed his blade on thin air, the blood sliding off as he continued to walk and look for Sakura. He only had ten minutes altogether to save Sakura and get both of them out of here. Right now, there were eight minutes, approximately, left for him to look for his mate and leave Hell.

* * *

"S-Sasuke…" she whimpered as he stopped and looked at her. Sakura was half-naked below his topless body and she was panting heavily. He hovered above her neck yet his eyes gazed onto her flushed face. "What is it?" she looked uncertain for a moment before looking at him straight. "Why are we doing this here..? I mean… shouldn't we leave this place-" she got cut off when he began to suck on her skin again, licking it afterwards as she arched onto him. "I know that, but we have to wait for Naruto and the others before we can leave."

She stopped and looked at him, pushing him away as he gave her a questioning gaze. _"No way… the Sasuke I know would say "Aa" instead of "I know". And he would most likely direct Naruto as "idiot" or "dead last" instead of by his first name…" _she sat up abruptly and backed away from him, gathering her white garments and covering herself with it, her head hung low. "Who are you..? You're not Sasuke…"

"Sasuke" smirked and laughed mockingly. This was definitely not Sasuke. "Too bad, I almost had you… just one kiss and I could've gotten you, but no, it looks like I'll have to do this the hard way." Sakura's eyes widened when he turned back to his true form, and she felt disgusted to see that it was Orochimaru. "Y-you… y-you..!" she couldn't blurt out what she wanted to say, and for that, Hellarium was snickering. "Wait 'till Sasuke hears what I've done to his Sakura." He murmured, looking up when a familiar figure had dashed towards them, eyes blazing red as the commas in them began to swirl dangerously. "Bastard..!" he yelled and stabbed his katana on the ground, separating Oro from Sakura. "What the fuck did you do to her?" he asked, his grip on the katana tightening.

"Like you said…" he snickered some more. "I fucked her up."

"Asshole!" he yelled and landed a punch on his face. Oro spat out blood but the smirk remained on his lips. "I would have evaded if only I don't enjoy your facial expression and reaction. She sure has a high pitch scream when she thought it was you who was screwing her there. And the way she moaned made me want to have her." His yellow eyes landed on Sakura who trembled. Sasuke took note of this and extended an arm out in front of her in a protective gesture. "Over my dead body bastard…" he muttered, eyebrows knitted.

"I'd gladly walk over your corpse and take her away from you…" he said, standing up from his crouching position and calling out a few imps. "Attack." But before the little demons could have a scratch on him, Sasuke did a one-hand seal and closed his eyes, chanted a few words with his other hand over the handle of his katana. The ground shook a bit as white light emitted from where the Fallen and Chosen were, blinding the imps and Hellarium. Once it faded, Oro looked back to see nothing but the white garment he had let Sakura wear and a few cracks on the ground.

A single black celestial feather had slowly dropped on the blood-stained dress, an interesting and attracting contrast of colors. He picked the items up, smelling the scent of the dress while the feather was held in his other hand. He crushed the black feather and looked up, a smirk on his lips. "We shall meet again… count on it."

* * *

"Break!"

And the six men let go of the seal as they fell on their backs and rear, panting. Kakashi turned to the middle of the star where Sasuke was in a one-knee kneeling position; in his arms was a shaken Sakura who was half naked. He couldn't tell exactly since the Fallen had his wings covering the two of them. Sasuke's eyes were closed; the side of his head had blood dripping down to his chin and on the floor. Death stood up and walked over to them, asking if they were okay. Sasuke responded by standing up, carrying Sakura bridal style and his wings shielding her almost naked body from the other men who were there, mostly from Jiraiya who had his eyes bulged and a drool dripping from the side of his mouth, blood spilling from his nose.

The half-breed turned to Jiraiya with calm, half-closed but narrowed eyes that were still red and in an instant; the monk had coughed and looked away. Sasuke placed Sakura down on the couch in the room and kneeled down in front of her, his wings were still blocking her from the others' eyes. "What did he do?" he asked. She looked down at him and clasped her hands together on her chest, looking away from his gaze. "I'm sorry…" she whispered back. He knew what she meant, she probably felt like she betrayed him, but that was not how he felt or how he saw it. "It was an illusion, a trick. Don't blame yourself; if I had arrived sooner, it wouldn't happen."

Sakura shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. "I still felt like I betrayed you… like I cheated on you…" he was about to say something but he stopped and turned to the group who had their gazes on them. He sighed at this. "Can we have a little privacy here..?" he muttered. Kakashi nodded and ushered the guys out of the room. Iruka approached them though and handed Sakura a white kimono, a pair of white socks and sandals. "Jiraiya told one of the maids to lend you some clothes, I hope this will do for now." Sakura nodded her thanks and waited for Iruka to leave the room.

"Get dressed." He ordered and got up, retracting his wings. Sakura nodded and put on the kimono, looking at the red obi, she asked for his help and he nodded, assisting her in tying the knot behind her back. Whilst doing this, a pregnant silence rang through their ears and Sakura couldn't take it. She combed her long hair with her fingers, feeling the soft petal-like locks of her pink tresses. A hand reached up to stop hers as she glanced at him. "Here." He said, handing her a red ribbon that he took out from his pocket. She blinked and looked at the silky red lace, finding it familiar. "Where-"

"Let's go for a walk." He said, cutting her off of her question. She followed him outside of the dojo-like estate of the white haired monk. She looked up to see white flakes falling from the sky, and she couldn't help but smile and run out into the falling snow, arms spread wide and her whole figure twirling, dancing under the falling snow. He watched as she continued to sway with the flakes, dancing a silent song. _"Good thing she's wearing socks, otherwise, she'd feel cold." _He joined her outside, hands in his coat's pockets. They were pulled out of the warmth of it when her hands had clasped on his wrists. Sakura laughed and swayed with him, spinning around like a child. He couldn't help but smile as well.

Running out of breath, she stopped and panted, her smile not fading the least and he only brushed off the flakes that were on her hair, earning a light blush from her cheeks. "You feeling okay now?" he asked in a soft voice, taking the ribbon for her hands and tying her hair in a half-pony tail style. She nodded, smiling at him. "This ribbon… I had one like this when I was a kid, but I lost it…" he shook his head at this. "You didn't loose it, you gave it to me." She blinked. "Ten years ago, I didn't have any friends, a little girl with pink hair and green eyes came up to me and asked me to be her friend." He smiled slightly when she looked down, avoiding his gaze. "I got a red ribbon from her because she was moving away to another town. It was a reminder that we became friends and will always be friends. Then a new student came to school when I was in first year, and that was you."

"Then… why didn't you…"

"Sakura, you didn't remember me at all back then. Despite how many eye contacts we had, you only smiled at me and nothing more. I decided to give up then, but I somehow had hope that you would someday remember. I guess even showing you the ribbon didn't help huh?" she sighed and leaned her head on his chest, closing the gap of their bodies. He wrapped his arms around her waits and drew her closer. "I didn't forget, I just thought that you changed after hearing from the other students how much of a loner you are, and that anybody who got near you ended up in the clinic, if not… the hospital."

He laughed slightly and looked down at her. "You were scared of me?"

"Yeah, in a way…"

"What about now?" he asked, leaning his forehead on hers.

"_Why, you scared?" _

She recalled that day, the day he first spent the night ion her house, when he was poisoned by the Secular's blood. Sakura can remember his words back then, how his hands wrapped around her neck as a threat.

"_Now we'll see what similarities and differences you have compared to the rest of the girls in school." _

She smiled and shook her head. "No." how ca she be scared if he was always there to protect her? If he said he loves her? If he was the one who saved her? Who'll be afraid of that person? Definitely not her "No, I'm not scared." He nodded at this and leaned down, capturing her lips in a sweet kiss. She pulled him closer, making it more passionate and again, she was swept off her feet, literally since he had carried her in his arms without breaking their lip lock. Parting a bit, he licked her lip, giving her a bit of satisfaction as he jumped onto the roof of the dojo and laid her there, his hands supporting his weight and body from crushing her.

Sasuke moved to her neck, nipping on the skin and marking her again. She grabbed a handful of his spiky raven hair and pulled him closer, a moan escaping her lips, her breaths growing shallow and her cheeks flushed a deep shade of red. "Sasuke…" she gasped as he raised his head to look at her. Her hair was slightly a mess, her breaths shallow and her face beet red. Her eyes were half-lidded and her kimono was nearly exposing her shoulders and cleavage. He smirked and she smiled slightly. "Not here…" she whispered and he nodded, carrying her in his arms, kissed her forehead and went inside a vacant room in Jiraiya's dojo.

"Hey, are you sure this is okay?" she asked, seated on the futon while he leaned closer to her. "Yeah, I'm sure." He whispered and nipped her ear, earning another moan from her. He licked her lip slowly, making her open her mouth as his tongue went in, having a taste of her once more. She pushed his coat off of him as he slid it off and began to untie her obi, the only thing that secured her kimono. He tugged on the obi and discarded it, along with the kimono she had just taken off. Her hands went to his shirt, pulling it off of him, leaving him in his pants as he leaned down and kissed her again.

They parted and gazed at each other for a while, thinking of a few things before she whispered his name and added: "I love you." And she brought her head up, kissing him again as he pulled away and whispered: "I do too."

* * *

A sigh escaped her lips as she read the piece of paper again, approving the idea none the less. "I don't know why but, I guess it's a good idea as well. It could let the seniors have fun on their last year here in Sugo-Shizen." Her secretary nodded with a smile. "Shall I inform the school paper Tsunade-san?" the blonde principal of Sugo-Shizen High nodded with a smirk. "Yes, I'm sure everyone will love the news." He laughed and her secretary just nodded and went out of the room.

"That woman is so hard to understand…" he muttered, shrugging and heading towards the school paper's room. He knocked twice and entered, informing the editor-in-chief about the whole trip and then the staff began to type and print the whole thing.

A student who passed by stopped and listened to the discussion as his eyes went wide and a grin was soon plastered on his face. He stopped at his classroom's door, opening it, catching the attention of the students who stopped eating and chatting and turned to him. "Yo Inuzuka, what's up?" Naruto asked and continued eating his ramen. Beside him was Shikamaru who was trying his best to ignore a blabbing Ino. Hinata ate her food silently on Naruto's other side, stealing glances at the blonde demon occasionally. He looked around some more, seeing some of his friends looking at him. The two lovebirds, Sasuke and Sakura, on the other hand, were busy eating. Rather, Sakura was busy feeding Sasuke some tempura and a bit of onigiri.

"I just heard that the seniors will be having a trip to Fujiten ski resort!"

"Wow! Really? Isn't that resort expensive? Plus, there're a lot of us! That would mean the place would full up with visitors and tourists!" Naruto said, scratching his head. "That's no problem! The principal is a close friend of the owner, plus, we're paying at half price for a one week stay!" The class then started talking about it, smiling, laughing and dreaming about a few things. Some of the boys discussed about hot springs and peeking on the girls, earning a glare from the opposite sex who have heard what they were planning.

"I don't believe it! This has got to be the luckiest year ever!" Ino said to Shikamaru who muttered a "How troublesome" under his breath, earning a scowl from the female half-breed. Naruto chatted with Hinata and Kiba happily, talking about things to do, sports to play and etc.

"Snow resort…"

Sasuke turned to her as she cast a sad look on her face, her head hung low and staring at the bento box she had. He raised a brow at this, wondering what had caused her to suddenly have a different mood. "Sak?" he asked as she snapped from her thoughts and turned to him. "What's wrong with you?" she forced a smile and shook her head. He narrowed his eyes further and she sighed. "Past experiences." It was a simple answer and he already knew what she meant. Something good didn't happen, he was sure of it. Be it the death of her parents or just some accidents she had. "And… I don't know how to ski or snowboard down the hill." He laughed slightly and faced her. "I can teach you, though I can't guarantee that you'll get it soon."

"Is it that hard?" she asked.

"Well, depends, are you a fast learner?"

"You bet!"

"Then I guess you'll have no trouble at all. I can teach you later after school."

* * *

"No trouble at all huh..?" she huffed and got up, dusting the snow off of her red jacket. She watched as Sasuke snowboarded down the small hill near Kakashi's house and he smirked at her. "It takes time Sakura, you won't be able to get it so soon." Again, she sighed and stretched her arms. She glanced back at Sasuke, seeing his navy blue scarf slightly messy. A giggle escaped her lips and she fixed it for him, earning a curious look from her… boyfriend.

She smiled and finished fixing the scarf and picked up the snowboard she borrowed from Naruto, who was with Hinata on a bench, watching them. "Okay Sasuke-sensei, teach me more!" she grinned when he twitched at the name. "I'm not that old, and for your information, you're older than me." She punched his arm playfully and pulled him up the hill. "Come on, I want to learn more!" he smiled slightly and followed her climb the hill, both reaching the top at the same time. "Again, you have to have control and balance. Be in command when you slide down." He positioned himself the correct way. "Do the same position." She nodded and mimicked him. "I'll count to three and we'll go down together okay?" again, she nodded. "1, 2, 3!" and they both boarded down the hill. Sakura at times, loosing balance but end up recovering quick until she got the hang of it.

"Alright!" she punched the air when she reached the foot of the hill, Sasuke stopping near her and giving her a proud smile. "Teme, rogues!" he turned to Naruto who brought out his double-bladed spear, pointing the blade for the Secular towards the rogue Demon. "There's a Crusade behind you!" he warned. The Fallen pushed Sakura down on the snow, ducking a swipe of the Crusade's staff. He brought out his katana and blocked another assault from the rogue Angel. "Sakura, stay by my side okay? I can't afford to loose you again, be it in Magna Carta(Heaven) or Hellarios(Hell)."

"Okay." She replied, standing behind him as he pushed away the Crusade. The rogue Angel twirled its staff and stabbed it on the snowy ground, causing a slight shake. Sasuke and Naruto's eyes widened as the Secular that the blonde Demon was battling flew towards the Crusade, landing on its shoulders as they both glowed with whit light. Once it faded, they were shocked to see the Crusade have bat-like wings, a serpent's body on the lower half and the upper being the rogue Angel's. "Crap…" Sakura heard Naruto curse. "Sasuke, what is that thing?" she asked, tugging on his blue jacket's sleeve. "It's a combination of a Secular and Crusade… it's…" he trailed off and glared at the thing with narrowed eyes. "A rogue Fallen, Seraul…" she turned to the rogue Angelus. "Seraul…" she mouthed. "This is bad…" he said and then bit on his thumb, drawing out blood. "Summoning technique, Kagemizu!" a black-bluish wolf came out, eyes were red and fangs sharp.

"Kagemizu…" Naruto smirked. "He is a wolf that can control water and shadows. Two of the basic elements a Seraul controls." The Angelus didn't remove his single hand tiger seal from his nose and lips, sharingan eyes gazing at the Seraul, the other hand commanding the wolf to attack, defend, block, dodge and attack again. After a while, Kagemizu finally managed to deal a great damage to the rogue Fallen. Yet, due to the staff that was stuck on the ground, the Seraul chanted a few words and soon, another bright light emitted, blinding the four teenagers. "Shit…" Naruto cursed when he realized he couldn't move. He turned towards Sasuke who was bound on the ground by a sticky web that the Seraul had used to counter.

The Angelus narrowed his eyes and tried to squirm free. _"Damn… this is bad… at this rate…"_ he glanced at the rogue Fallen that prepared its staff to hit him on the gut, hard. _"I may end up dead…" _and the rogue brought down the staff. "Sasuke!" Sakura yelled when the weapon had hit the half-breed. Hinata turned to Naruto in a panicked state, catching the half-Demon's attention. "You have to unleash Kyuubi…" she whispered. "But if I do that, I won't be able to go back to normal without Iruka-sensei here!" Hinata shook his head. "I know how to seal Demons, trust me on this Naruto, we have to save Sasuke." She exclaimed, turning back to the said teen who just coughed out blood. Naruto shut his eyes and cursed, calling out the demon fox within him- But… The Seraul growled in pain as Naruto and Hinata turned to see what happened. All they saw were white celestial wings with a hint of light blue wrapped around the owner and the half-conscious Sasuke. 

"No way…" Hinata murmured as Naruto gaped, his lips slowly forming a smile as he yelled. "Way to go Sakura! You unleashed your powers!" and indeed, the white-winged creature was Sakura, and she had Sasuke in her arms, cradling his injured and drained-out body, his eyes squinting a bit, his vision blurry as he tried to make out Sakura's face. She was glaring at the rogue Fallen and holding onto Sasuke in a protective way, just like he does when she was in danger. Seraul only narrowed its eyes on Sakura as she glowed a bright white, looking more beautiful than an angel. "…Reishin…Uchiha…" it whispered, eyes widening upon seeing Sakura. It then turned to Sasuke, opening its mouth to say another name. "Derick… Uchiha…" 

Naruto blinked and stared at the couple. "Reincarnation of the Angel who fell in love with a Demon; but… Sakura isn't an Angel and Sasuke isn't a Demon… so… how?" Hinata smiled slightly at this. "The spirits of the two dwell within them. Just like Derick and Reishin's love, Sasuke and Sakura's love is also forbidden, yet they ended up together."

"You…" The Chosen said, holding Sasuke closer when he was slowly loosing consciousness. "You hurt him, for that…" she glared at Seraul. "I will never forgive you!" as soon as she yelled that, a spirit of a mythical phoenix appeared and charged towards the Seraul that blocked the attack. When the phoenix dispersed, the Seraul looked up and met another blow, a large fireball. "Wha- how did she-?" Naruto gaped. Sakura had her right palm open, facing the Seraul with a glare. Her left arm still supported Sasuke on the ground, having him in the warmth of her wings. _"You've always protected me, taught me how to stand up… you were always there when I needed you… now…"_ she gave another determined look and as a blue ball of lightning began forming on her open palm. _"It's my turn to save you… to be there when you need me."_ Slowly, she lay down the unconscious Fallen on the snowy ground and stood up, her left hand clasping her right wrist as the Raikiri formed. She prepared for an offense, waiting for the right time. _"Arigatou… Sasuke…"_ and she rushed head on, chidori emitting the chirps of a thousand birds. 

"How can she do that? I mean… aren't those Sasuke-san's techniques?" Hinata asked, facing Naruto when they were finally released from the binds of the sticky web. "I'm not sure Hinata, but… somehow… I think Sasuke's chakra and blood have combined with Sakura's, which is why she knows his attacks." Seraul screamed out in pain when Sakura's chidori had plunged through its heart, ending its life. After a few moments, the creature dissolved into thin air, leaving no traces of its existence. Without any more seconds to spare, she quickly ran back to Sasuke and examined his wounds. He was glowing a bright blue and his injuries slowly healed, making him look good as new. "Self-healing." Naruto answered, seeing Sakura's confused look. "He told you that before right?"

"Mm. But I didn't know he could when knocked out."

"Maybe because I'm not knocked out but just drained…" the Fallen muttered, flinching from the sudden pain that surged through his body. Slowly, he sat up, eyes half-opened and gazed at Sakura who was slightly teary-eyed and a smile on her face. "Mou, you made me worried…" she whispered, wiping her tears away and tackling him to a hug. "You made me really worried…" he smirked and shook his head. "You're always worried…" and the four only shared a round of laughter.

* * *

"A Seraul appeared?" Kakashi asked, slamming his hands down on the dining table, making the utensils on it shake. Sakura stopped eating and looked at Kakashi who waited for Sasuke's answer. The half-breed teen only closed his eyes and remained calm. "Aa… they combined themselves to form a Seraul. They've grown more powerful Kakashi. There has got to be a reason why they want to finish me off so badly, and I'm sure it has something to do with Oro."

"I know. He wants you dead so that he can take Sakura, especially since she's no longer a virgin. She cannot choose pure chaos or eternal peace anymore. At this rate, Hellarium has only one option left, and that is to take her powers to be unbeatable."

"But in order to do that, she'll have to be kissed by him." Sasuke said, eyes opening and staring into Kakashi's. "He can do that if he manipulates her mind." Sakura shook a bit, recalling the time when she was brought in Hell. "He… already did…" the two male turned to her with questioning looks. "He already manipulated my mind, but he hasn't kissed me yet. He almost did but… there's no telling that he might succeed in our next encounter." She clenched her fists and lowered her head, her eyes shedding silent tears. "I'm scared… I grew afraid of him when he almost… r-raped…me…" Sasuke grabbed her hand and assured her that everything was going to be fine.

Death sighed and tried to calm his anger. "He can't claim you." Sasuke told her, looking away. "It is written in the code and rules of Heaven and Hell that once a half-breed or pure-breed claims his or her mate, no one can interfere or claim the already taken being. That's one of the reasons why I needed to have you." She looked at him with wide eyes. "I had to… it was the only way to stop Orochimaru from winning, it was the only way to stop him from getting you. He has a slight fear of a Fallen's blood and aura, that's why I had to act fast without anyone else knowing besides Kakashi. But trust me on this Sakura, I didn't do it for those reasons only." He looked at her with sincere onyx eyes. "I did it because I love you, and I chose you."

He smiled at the two and stood up quietly, leaving them alone. Kakashi sat down on the couch and sighed deeply. _"Sooner or later… this war has to end… but for it to end… a sacrifice must be done…" _he turned back to the kitchen's doorway. _"A sacrifice of innocent blood must be spilled…" _

_**To be continued…

* * *

**_

_Next on Fallen: Chapter 8: The Cartum is Tsunade?_

"It's hard to believe, but it's true. I am the Cartum, the leader of Angels in Heaven, and I am here to make sure nothing goes wrong, but it seems I underestimated today's generation." She smiled at Sasuke and Sakura. "I underestimated this year's Fallen and Chosen. However, despite you being one step ahead of Hellarium, there is something you need to know. Your next battle with Orochimaru will be the last, and truth be told, innocent blood will be spilled in order to stop this war. How you deal with it afterwards is all up to you, Uchiha Sasuke, descendant of Uchiha Derick."

* * *

_A/N: New word: **Seraul- **A cross between a rogue Angel and Demon; it's a rogue Fallen. Thank you **xXxAllMySinsxXx**__for the name of the creature! For those who answered my fanfic challenge, thank you very much! Readers, please be up to date with my Author notes for I'll be needing your help in picking out the best Narutrix fiction! Participants, please put in your summary or story that it is a fanfic challenge given to you by me so that flamers will not think that it's plagiarism. Also, school is about to start for us Filipinos so it's going to be another while before my next updates!_


	8. The Cartum is Tsunade?

**Fallen**

"Wow! This place is great!"

"Yeah! I love it!"

Hinata only giggled at Naruto and Sakura's behavior. She walked over to them and tapped one of them on the shoulder. "Come on, sensei is taking attendance and assigning rooms. Not to mention that some of us will have night shifts in case rogues were to attack." Sasuke's eyes narrowed at this as he looked over the mountainous area, recalling what Tsunade had said before they left for this trip. He glanced briefly at Sakura, the events that happened the past week replaying in his mind.

"_She used the chidori and my fire techniques against a Seraul." _

When a chakra or blood of a supernatural combines with their mate, they too will have the same powers and techniques, albeit not as strong as the original. Yet, due to Sakura being a Chosen and half-supernatural, she either has equal strength or more compared to Sasuke's.

The Fallen raised his right hand, staring at it as it shook. _"If I was easily beaten by a Seraul, what other chances do I have to protect Sakura from Hellarium..?" _two hands held onto his clenched fist as he gazed at the owner of those smooth hands. He was met with a gentle and sweet smile from his mate, calming his shaking nerves and muscles. "Let's go." He stared at her for a few moments before letting the girl lead him to where the others were. _"Whatever happens…" _he looked down at their entwined hands. _"I will risk my life to save yours."

* * *

_

**_Chapter 8: The Cartum is Tsunade?_**

"Is everybody here?" Iruka asked, taking attendance afterwards and checking on the names of the students who were there. "Okay, there are 34 of you in class, and for that, one room will hold one pair. The names are picked by random, and if you do get a partner of the opposite sex, I suggest that you don't do anything that can suspend, or worse, expel you from school. Is that clear students?"

A chorus of yes was what Iruka got and he smiled slightly, flipping the first paper on his clipboard over and reading the next list of names that were to be paired up. "Room 01…" Naruto yawned and placed his arms behind his head, looking u at the grayish sky as a few snowflakes lightly fell onto them. He smiled as one landed on the tip of his nose, melting at the warmth of his skin.

"Naruto," Iruka called out. "Naruto!" he had practically yelled out the blonde's name and Uzumaki did snap from his thoughts and looked at Iruka who sighed exasperatedly then pointed at Hinata who was holding a key to a room. "You and Hinata are roommates." He said, crossing their names out of the list. Naruto smiled slightly and picked up his bags, then walked over to Hinata as they both went inside the huge cabin-like mansion where they were to share the place with other pairs, only in different suites.

His blue eyes marveled at the place, eyeing how the whole living room was spacious and roomy. It gave a warm and cozy feeling and he plopped on the soft couch, acting like a kid as he grinned goofily at the half-breed Angel. Hinata gave a small smile as well, shaking her head and taking a seat beside the blonde boy who continued looking around. "This is going to be fun! By the way, who did Sasuke get as a roommate?" he asked her, turning his head to look at her as she instantly blushed and avoided his gaze. "S-Sakura-chan…" she answered in a soft voice. Naruto suddenly had a sly look before asking: "So, when are they coming in?"

"They already got their rooms earlier before we did."

"Oh, damn… I should've listened…"

Hinata giggled and stood up, taking her luggage with her and walking towards the stairs that leads to where the rooms are. "They're under the same roof we are Naruto-kun, so you can still bug Sasuke-san whenever you feel like it, just not now." She said as the blonde followed her. "Why?" he asked, curiosity getting the best of him. "Well, he's not in a good mood today, as what I've observed since we got here." Naruto blinked. "Come to think of it, he was rather… distant…" Hinata nodded at this as they stopped when they reached their room door. "I think it has something to do with the Seraul…"

* * *

Her green eyes continued staring at him as he stood there, staring at the distance, eyes half-closed and brows knitted together. Sakura sighed, watching as her breath evaporated as soon as it was breathed out. Pulling her red beanie on top of her head, she bent down and took a hand full of snow. She rolled it to a snowball, her gloved hands protecting her from the stinging cold the ice gave as her lips formed a sly smile. "Sasuke." She called out as the raven-haired teen turned to face her, only to get hit by a snowball.

She laughed and fell on the snowy ground on her rear, her jeans ruffling as snow matted against her winter clothes. Her arms held onto her stomach upon seeing his bewildered face. His hair was tainted with snow as well, thanks to both the snowball she threw and to the flakes that continued to fall slowly onto them. His eyes blinked continuously, letting what had happen sink into his head. Sakura stopped to see his lack of reaction and sighed. "You're hopeless…" she muttered under her breath as she got up and dusted snow off of her clothes.

With another sigh, she approached him, brushing off the snow that was on his hair and face as he continued to gaze at her. "What is up with you?" she asked, done with "cleaning" him up. She noticed that there was still some snow on his cheek that she giggled and tiptoed a bit, her lips touching his cheek as she kissed the bit of ice away. He snapped from his trance and raised a brow at her which she returned with a smile. "What's up?" she asked again.

Blinking, he glanced elsewhere and shook his head. "Nothing." Came his quiet reply. The way his eyes looked bothered her a bit and she was starting to grow more worried than ever. "Is this about what Tsunade-san told us?" he remained silent and she assumed that it was a yes. Finding nothing else to do, she opted to fix his blue scarf around his neck, straightening out the black coat he had on that reached his knees at the same time brushing away his bangs from his face. Sasuke took his hands from his coat's pockets and clasped it with hers. She smiled, finally getting a reaction from the boy.

"Don't worry too much about it, okay?"

He didn't answer at first, but only continued to stare into her green eyes, letting himself drown in them. "I can't." he said. "Whenever I recall that Seraul's attack, I can't help thinking how weak I am…" she shook her head, disapproving his thoughts of himself. "I've seen you fight, and I most certainly think you're not weak Uchiha Sasuke." He lowered his head, not seemingly convinced. Sakura sighed inwardly and forced a smile. "Let's go back inside and get some rest, I think you need it." He gave a nod and let her pull him inside the cabin, all the while glancing back and forth at Sakura and the mountains.

"_Innocent blood will be spilled…"_

Tsunade's words kept ringing in his ears and it really disturbed him to no end. _"What does she mean by it..?" _he asked himself, recalling their talk. _"Whose blood will be spilled exactly? It can't be Sakura's, can it?" _absent-mindedly, his fist clenched while the other gripped Sakura's hand tighter. She felt it and it only made her worry some more. _"Sasuke-kun…"

* * *

_

"Damn it."

She glanced at her boyfriend briefly before turning back to the opened books and scrolls that were scattered on the round table. He glared at the man that stood before him, giving a look that told him that if this was a joke, it wasn't at all funny.

"I doubt this is a joke Neji."

"Ten-Ten, I don't think this is possible."

Ten-Ten only shook her head as she read the written code of Heaven and Hell. "If comes the time that the forbidden love is to happen, chaos will come and the war shall break out once more. Heaven and Hell will clash, involving Earth as well. In order to stop both races, innocent blood must be spilled, the blood that is the fruit of the love that was made and was supposedly prohibited from the start." She said, reading the contents of the scrolls aloud. "Jiraiya doesn't joke around when things turn serious."

Jiraiya nodded at this and faced Neji. "Now that a Seraul had appeared, if Naruto wasn't joking, the time is nearing. You will have to report this to your comrades Neji, they must know the signs and warnings that Hellarium is sending." Neji slammed his hands onto the table, standing up at the process and startling the two people inside. His eyes were narrowed dangerously and his byaakugan was activated, glaring menacingly at the monk. "Are you sure about the vision you saw?"

Again, the monk nodded. "And if it is accurate, there's a chance that Orochimaru will win. That's why a sacrifice must be made once he appears, once the Angelus that has done a sin will clash with Hellarium, the blood must be spilled to redeem everything."

Sweat trickled down the Hyuuga's forehead as he sighed and straightened himself up, his eyes returning back to normal. "Then we have to go to Fujiten now before another Seraul appears." He bowed down a bit to show his respects, as did Ten-Ten, before the two of them went outside, Neji summoning out his white wings and carried his girlfriend in his arms as he flew at top speed to the direction of the snow resort. _"Uchiha, hang in there…" _he thought, his brows knitted, not noticing how the huntress had given him a worried look.

"Is it possible that it's not only Sasuke and Sakura who are committing this sin?" she asked all of a sudden. "What?" he asked back. "An Angel loving a Demon is also a sin right? Hinata has feelings for Naruto. Plus, I'm a Huntress, I'm not supposed to love, yet here you are, letting me feel those things. What about Shikamaru? Maybe it's okay if he falls for Temari since she's a Huntress but what if he falls for Ino, a half-breed Demon?"

Neji remained silent, contemplating on these things.

"And before I forget, Kakashi-sensei and Iruka-sensei's… affection… Life and Death are not supposed to clash or even feel love…" she glanced elsewhere. "Even if they are genderless beings…"

"Opposite attracts Ten-Ten."

"Then how do you explain us and in Shikamaru's case?"

"Something unexplainable happened. A spark occurred." He picked up his pace when he caught sight of the snow resort a few more kilometers away. "What we felt towards each other is something not needing a reason or an answer. It just happened, and that's what makes it right, because we felt it. We fell in love."

"Neji…" she whispered, a small smile forming on her lips. "Thank you."

* * *

He gazed at the crackling fire that was on the fireplace, watching as the flames swayed a bit. His onyx orbs reflected the light it gave as he continued to stare and have his mind elsewhere. It was late at night, and he was still awake, clad only in denim jeans, black rubber shoes and a dark blue jacket that had a shirt underneath. His elbows rested on his thighs, hands clasped and fingers laced together, covering the lower part of his face.

The flames continued to dance wildly as he closed his eyes, letting the sound of silence echo in his ears. Whatever Tsunade said always bugged him, and he just couldn't help but think that someone will die, that it might even be Sakura. It made him cringe at the thought, he would not allow it. He would make sure that she will live. He decided that this would only stress him, and it wouldn't be good for him to be stressed especially if rogues plan to attack. The students who were supposed to do a night shift round had gone to bed since he came down from his room that he shared with his mate.

"_Sakura…"_

His thoughts drifted to her, of how her eyes always seem to beam with happiness, the way she looks at him, the way her lips curve into a smile, the way her mouth opens as she calls his name. He felt his lips tug at one side, giving a half-smile as he continued to think about her traits and childish antics whenever she felt like it. It pained him whenever he sees her hurt, it drove him crazy whenever she pulls his body close to her, and it made him feel human and complete whenever she was in his arms.

"Sasuke-kun?"

It would be weird if he was startled, yet he wasn't. He didn't sense her come near him, but he wasn't surprised at all to hear her voice and footsteps approach his seated figure. Not long after, he felt her arms wrap around his waist as she seated herself on the spot beside him. "Can't sleep?" she asked, leaning her head on his shoulder as he leaned back and let her settle in his arms, feeling each other's warmth radiating. "Aa." He responded, leaning his head on the back rest as he closed his eyes once more, facing the ceiling in a relaxed position while she snuggled some more to him.

"I had a dream…"

"About?"

"About you… and me…"

He smiled slightly and looked at her, brushing away a few strands of pink hair away from her face. "Go on."

"We were somewhere in a forest, in the lake. My feet were submerged and I had a dress on… you, on the other hand, were flying, yet your hand was reaching down to me, caressing my face as the other clasped against my own." She looked up at him, their eyes meeting. "Pretty much like right now…" she whispered. "Then what..?" he asked, slowly closing his eyes and leaning closer to her. "I woke up…" she murmured, mimicking his movements.

"Uchiha, Haruno!"

The two pulled apart and turned to the door to see Neji and Ten-Ten enter, closing it behind them as they brushed off the snow on their clothes. "We have to tell you something important." Neji said, walking over to them as Ten-Ten rushed to where Sakura is, bending down before her while her right palm hovered over her stomach. The Chosen blinked as the Huntress closed her eyes and concentrated her chakra on her open palm. "Neji, check it now." the Angel nodded and activated his byaakugan, distributing more chakra flow to get a better view through Sakura's stomach. He deactivated it and Ten-Ten pulled away, standing up and looking at the couple who gave questioning looks.

The Huntress shook her head to her boyfriend while he nodded and faced the two who were still waiting for an answer from them. "I do believe that Tsunade has told you about innocent blood?" they nodded and Neji continued. "Thing is, we still don't know the real answer, but we have a feeling that it has something to do with the two of you." Sasuke raised a brow. "How?" the Angel shrugged, sighing after a while. He glanced back at Ten-Ten who nodded and opened her mouth to speak. "Jiraiya showed us the scrolls and books about Heaven and Hell's prophecy of some sort. Something or someone has to be sacrificed in order to stop the war that has been going on for years."

"And that would be what?" Sakura asked, getting a headache from too much thinking. "We're not sure yet, so until the time comes, we will never know. All we know is that it involves the two of you." Neji suddenly snapped his head towards the window and narrowed his eyes, activating his special ability once more as he stared across the snowy grounds, sensing and seeing a rogue. "Looks like we've got company."

"Tch." Sasuke stood up and headed for the door. Sakura reached out and grabbed his wrist, stopping him from going further. "Sakura." She only looked at him with worry-filled eyes as he sighed and faced her. "I have to." Yet she shook her head, silently pleading him to leave it to Neji and Ten-Ten. He gestured the two to go ahead while he stayed behind. "Look, I'm not doing this because I have to or need to, I'm doing it to protect you, to keep them from getting you." Her grip tightened and he knew that she would not let him go easily. "Tsunade-san said…"

"…to be careful, I know, and I will be."

"She also said to avoid any fights with rogues if possible."

"_If_, Sakura, and right now, it's not possible to avoid it. If one appears, there's no telling that there may be others."

"But-"

He cut her off by placing a finger on her lips, silencing her as he stared deeply into her eyes. "I'll be fine. I'll stay alive for you, and that's enough of a determination to win." She wanted to protest some more, but just by looking at how dead serious he is, she lowered her head in defeat and slowly let his wrist go, not bothering to speak or look back at him. Yet she felt two strong arms wrap around her body, and a warm breath breathe on her ear. "I'll be fine, I promise." And with a nod from her, he left.

"Why…" she whispered. "Why do you have to… just because of me?"

* * *

Neji didn't stop from continuously hitting the Secular with his punches and kicks. He specializes with the use of hand-to-hand or close combat, and that was enough to weaken a Secular that had a lower level than he has. Ten-Ten provided back-up, throwing a series of kunai and shuriken, readying her holy gun and aiming right at the Secular's heart, waiting for Neji to break away to be able to pull the trigger.

"8 strikes…" he said, continuously hitting the rogue without stopping to catch his breath. Ten-Ten smirked at this, knowing very well how an opponent is left stunned after receiving the attacks Neji gives on vital points. "66 strikes!" and when he jumped back, she pulled the trigger as the bullet went straight towards the Secular's heart, making it growl and dissolve to ashes, leaving no trace of its existence behind. The half-breed Angel didn't retract his wings but looked to his left, smirking when he barely dodged an assault of a Crusade. "A much higher level than the Secular, this will be fun."

When the rogue Angel was about to give another deadly blow…

"Rasengan!"

The couple turned to see a familiar Demon attack the Crusade as his technique blew up the rogue's gut, instantly killing it as the killer snickered and landed back on the ground, his bat-like wings beautifully spread out behind him as a female Angel flew down beside the Demon, smiling at her cousin. "Nice to see you Neji-niisan." Neji just gave a nod as he averted his attention on another rogue that appeared. "They just keep coming and coming, do they?"

"Heh, they love us too much." Naruto joked, cracking his knuckles as red aura began to emit from his body. "Let me have some fun." And his blue eyes turned red, his teeth growing to fangs and his nails turning to sharp claws. Neji nodded and stepped away, letting his demon comrade attack the other Crusade as he readied for another appearance of a rogue.

* * *

Her brows creased as she watched them fight from her room. She had this trip for the seniors to have fun on their last year in Sugo-Shizen High, yet being born a half-breed happens to take away that privilege. _"If there are rogues, then I'm sure that Uchiha is bound to appear and fight." _She sighed, massaging her temples and stepped out of her room, heading down the stairs to see a sad-looking Sakura seated on the couch and staring at the fire. "I would've expected you to go with him you know."

Sakura looked up, blinking at their school's principal who just gave a smile and walked over to her. "You've been feeling gloomy lately, care to tell me why?"

"…Sasuke."

Tsunade shook her head and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, I know you want to be out there to help him." She shook her head, pulling her hand away from hers. "I can't." she said, looking at the window. "It'll endanger us."

"…us?"

"Yes," she said, glancing down at her stomach with a small smile. "Us."

Tsuande's eyes widened as she pushed Sakura on the couch and bent down, closing her eyes when her palms were open and hovering over Sakura's belly. "You hid it with chakra…" Sakura nodded. "I didn't want them to worry." The principal stopped and looked at her, her eyes were filled with panic as she tried to calm down. "Does Sasuke know?" The Chosen shook her head. "I don't want him to worry too much. He isn't being himself lately since that talk you gave us."

"Sakura, since when was this?"

"I'm not sure… but I know that… it began to take shape and form when he rescued me from Hellarium, when we…" she blushed a bit. "…did something in one of Jiraiya's guest room." Tsunade sighed and shook her head. "Teens these days…" she muttered and stood up. "More or less, Iruka and Kakashi know about this, that, I'm sure they do." Sakura gave a nod. "I told them not to tell anyone."

"Sakura, you should let them know."

"I don't want to."

"It would be worse if they find out too late."

"What do you mean?"

"The prophecy." Tsunade responded. "I told you two before, the talk we had was meant as a warning. But it seems that I told it a bit too late. I was hinting for the two of you to not do anything that involves creating life or giving life."

* * *

"_It's hard to believe, but it's true. I am the Cartum, the leader of Angels in Heaven, and I am here to make sure nothing goes wrong, but it seems I underestimated today's generation." She smiled at Sasuke and Sakura. "I underestimated this year's Fallen and Chosen. However, despite you being one step ahead of Hellarium, there is something you need to know. Your next battle with Orochimaru will be the last, and truth be told, innocent blood will be spilled in order to stop this war. How you deal with it afterwards is all up to you, Uchiha Sasuke, descendant of Uchiha Derick."_

"_What do you mean by innocent blood will be spilled?" the Fallen asked, narrowing his eyes at the Cartum. "I'm just telling you to not do anything that involves life, and I don't mean Iruka, but what I mean is creating life. Don't rush things Uchiha."

* * *

_

Sakura's eyes widened in fear and realization as she stared at Tsunade. "N-no way… y-you mean that… this…" Tsuande nodded. "The key is inside you." Sakura shook her head. "No, I don't want him to be sacrificed! I want him to live!" The Cartum raised her eyebrows. "It's a he?" Sakura nodded. "I should know, I've molded enough chakra to hide him from the byaakugan or sharingan. But he can't be the key! There is no way I would give him up just to stop this pointless war!"

"You have to Sakura!"

"But you said that there's another way!"

"Yes but that would be impossible! Hellarium is too strong for one single Fallen to handle. Even if Orochimaru fears the race of the Uchiha family, there is still no guarantee that Sasuke will defeat him alive! If he finds out about your child, Sasuke will have no choice but to sacrifice his own son. He knows the prophecy, and he must do it in order to stop this war." Sakura shook her head. "No, he won't. He told me himself that he wants to have a family, and our child is the first step to having one."

"Are you even listening to yourself? Surrender this baby's life and you can start anew! This is the only way for the two of you to redeem the mistake that has been done by a Fallen and Chosen for the past few decades. History will keep repeating unless you forget about this and give up this baby's life. If I were in your position, I would know my responsibilities and do what must be done. It's the only sure way to end this war."

"No, I won't let it happen!" and she stood up, heading towards the stairs. Tsunade stopped her. "You have to tell them."

* * *

Naruto darted his eyes from the Seraul that has just been form, to his best friend who was pinned to a tree by the rogue's staff. _"What the hell is wrong with him? He isn't being himself lately…" _True enough, Naruto wasn't so sure if this was really the Fallen that he knew that was fighting. It was like he didn't have any experience in killing rogues at all. "Teme, what the hell are you doing? Why aren't you fighting?" he asked, at the same time dodging an attack from another rogue Angelus.

"_I… don't know dobe…" _he thought, feeling his energy drained. _"Why can't I fight the way I used to..?" _he felt a stinging sensation on his mark while it threatened to spread through his body, his demonic self wanting to take over. _"No… I almost killed them back then…" _a snicker was heard, and he knew it too well. "You…" he whispered. _"Yes, me. Why don't you let me out and help you? It looks like you need it." _Sasuke shook his head, trying to get rid of the voice. _"Get out of my mind Derick…" _

Uchiha Derick, the demonic side of Uchiha Sasuke. He only laughed a bit. _"Relax Sasuke, you have control over me now, I just need you to use my power. You'll need it in this state of yours. The reason why you're feeling drained is because a Seraul sucks out the chakra of any half-breed or pure-breed. That's why you have to let the mark spread." _Sasuke tried to clear his blurred vision, fighting the urge to loose consciousness. _"How can I be sure that I can trust you..?" _Derick sighed. _"It's you're only choice." _Indeed, it was, and before he knew it, he gave in to the mark, and Derick has completely taken over.

Ten-Ten shot the bullet across the rogue's heart while her boyfriend panted from using too much of his energy ki. He felt a strong amount of dark chakra coming from one of his comrades. And when he turned to look at Sasuke, he was surprised to see the mark spreading like wild fire over his whole body, his eyes the color of blood and his smirk more sinister than ever. Having an attempt to stop him, a hand was placed over his shoulder, firmly holding onto it to stop the Angel from doing anything.

"Don't worry, he won't go berserk."

Neji turned his head to the owner of the hand, seeing Death right there, staring at his supposed son who had just taken hold of the Seraul's staff and had used it against the rogue. _"Sasuke, something's wrong with you… and if worse comes to worse, I will stop you." _He thought as he watched the teen deliver quick punches and kicks to the Seraul that had a hard time to block everything due to the abnormal speed the Angelus was giving.

"Are you sure about this Kakashi?" Naruto asked when Hinata has just performed a technique that eliminated the rogue he was previously fighting. "You told us before that once a half-breed goes to their full-mode, they are unstoppable." Kakashi just shook his head. "That is, if you're full of nothing but hatred." He continued to look at his pupil, seeing him execute fire techniques as the Seraul was engulfed in flames. Sasuke did a few more hand seals, calling out his killing move as the blue ball of chakra that was surrounded by lightning started emitting the sound of chirping birds.

"You're finished…" he murmured, sharingan spinning wildly as he charged head on at the rogue, aiming for its heart. Once his hand was plunged, piercing the flesh of the creature, he disabled his chidori and grasped the rogue's heart, crushing it with his hand, killing the Seraul quickly. "Brutal." Kakashi murmured and shook his head.

Sasuke fell to his hands and knees, panting as his mark slowly went back to its origin, leaving him too drained to get up on his feet. His wings curled, wrapping round him as he healed and wounds he got from the fight, silently thanking the gods that he wasn't poisoned by any rogue's blood. He felt a hand pat his shoulder as he looked up, seeing the masked face of his sensei, his eyes telling him that he was smiling. "Good job." He whispered, bending down to be in eye level with the half-breed. "You'll need a lot of rest to restore your chakra to its fullest."

"I'm afraid that will no longer be necessary."

Their eyes widened as they turned to face the one person they wouldn't want to see or meet. His pale skin, yellow eyes and long hair gave them the creeps, especially that eerie smirk he gives and his abnormally long tongue. "Thanks to that Seraul, I've drained your chakra Sasuke, and nothing can stop me from taking your mate." He knew he hit a spot, and boy, did it really amuse him to see the Fallen let his mark spread across his body, his eyes turning red and his glare more intensifying than ever. "Why so possessive? Though she has been claimed, I can still take her despite the written code, I never did follow rules." He snickered. "I am Hellarium after all."

"Bastard…"

"Sasuke." Kakashi gripped the teen's shoulder, giving a look that told him to control his anger. "Don't interfere Kakashi, I'd like to see how far the Fallen can go. Unless of course, they really are worthless, since they were merely killed by this surviving Uchiha, it would be an honor to defeat him." And Orochimaru attacked, running towards the two, only to jump back when a kick was aimed at his jaw, almost breaking it if he hadn't dodged. "Tsunade…" he smirked, seeing the brown-eyed blonde glare back at him. "Orochimaru…" she glanced back at Sasuke. "That is why I told you to not fight any rogues." She only got a cry of pain from the Uchiha. _"This is bad, Orochimaru has triggered Derick's demonic side, and seeing as Sasuke is rapidly running out of chakra, it could cost him his life if he doesn't fight that mark." _

Her mind raced while Sakura and Kakashi tried to calm Sasuke down. He was beginning to loose consciousness from loosing chakra, and if he does give in, Orochimaru would win. "You four," she turned to face the two Angels, Huntress and Demon. "Get them out of here, take them to Jiraiya's." she aced Orochimaru once more. "I have a score to settle with Hell's leader." A smirk answered her with the comment she made. "Oh really now Tsunade, then I guess I'll have to finish you first before I deal with Uchiha." And he charged right at Heaven's leader, engaging themselves in hand-to-hand combat.

"You know Tsunade, we could always form an alliance and take over the world."

"No thanks, tempting as it may sound; I don't trust the devil, especially not you."

* * *

"Hang in there Sasuke." Kakashi said, glancing at the boy that was in his arms while Sakura flew by Death's side. "Why is his mark acting up?" Kakashi sweated a bit when the Fallen's mark kept going back and forth as Sasuke continued to cry out in pain, trying hard to endure it. "Orochimaru's appearance and how he angered Sasuke caused his mark to spread… if this keeps up, his mark will suck out what's left of his energy ki." Sakura gave a frantic look. "Put him down." She said earning quizzical looks from the four teens and Kakashi.

"I know what I'm doing."

Kakashi hesitated at first but flew down, setting Sasuke on the snowy ground while Sakura knelt down beside him. Neji and the others followed suit, wondering and thinking what the Chosen was up to. "I'll transfer a few of my chakra to him." She said, finally answering what's on their minds. Naruto blinked a couple of times before gasping. "You can do that?" Sakura gave a nod as blue aura emitted from her hands. She closed her eyes and placed her open palms over Sasuke's body, transferring almost half of her chakra to him.

"Isn't that sweet…"

They all turned to face one of Orochimaru's demonic soldiers, Kabuto, giving them a sinister smile as he pushed his specs upwards. "I've come to eliminate the Fallen and take the Chosen. If you want to avoid any of your blood to be spilled, then I highly suggest that you give me what I want." Neji and Naruto blocked his path while Ten-Ten readied her weapons for long range attacks. Hinata went to Sakura's side, assisting the Chosen while Kakashi stayed beside his adopted son, making sure that no one will kill him or take the Chosen without a fight.

"Suit yourself." And Kabuto snapped his fingers, calling not one or two, but three Serauls of the same level Neji was in. "Shit." Naruto cursed. "This is not going to be pretty…" The Angel gave a nod to the blonde demon's comment and activated his byaakugan, at the same time, concentrate his ki all on his palms. "Looks like this is going to take a while." Naruto smirked though. "Hinata, ready your sealing demon technique, I'm about to unleash Kyuubi." And just as he said it, his blue eyes turned to red, his teeth turned to fangs, his nails grew sharper and his mark started to spread across his body. "I'm going full Demon mode." He said, his tone of voice sounding more of a growl then a statement.

Neji shook his head and got into a fighting stance. "I'll save that for later." And he attacked one Seraul with a faster pace. "I'm not too experienced on rogue Fallens, but it looks like I have to deal with this thing." Ten-Ten took out a talisman, sprinkled it with holy water, wrapped it around a kunai and threw it towards the Seraul that was advancing towards her. She followed it up with three more shuriken and took out her katana, making sure it was the blade that could kill both Secular or Crusade. "Both means combined or not." She smirked, licking her lip as she charged at the high-level Seraul.

"Sakura," she looked up at Kakashi. "Get Sasuke out of here. Head for Jiraiya's place and take Hinata as well." he opened his usually shut left eye, revealing sharingan eyes. The two girls gasped at this while Death only smiled slightly. "Jiraiya can explain this, or maybe I'll tell you some other time, right now, get out of here, quick." And he soon blocked an assault from Kabuto after taking out his scythe. Hesitatingly but having no choice, she helped the half-conscious Sasuke to his feet and had his right arm around her. Hinata did the same with Sasuke's left as the two girls flew towards Jiraiya's place.

Kabuto cursed and tried to tail them but Kakashi wouldn't allow it. Instead, he pulled on the demon's wings and threw him back, glaring at the white-haired demon. "Your fight is with me Kabuto, and I will not allow you to kill he who I have considered as my son." He smirked at Death's chosen words. "Spoken like a prophet, yet you can't be one because I'm about to take you back to hell!" and their fight had begun. With a swing of his scythe, Kabuto blocked it with his wings. He knew it was hard to fight against Kakashi's level, being death himself but he had to; otherwise, he won't be able to kill the Fallen and take the Chosen. He just needed to wait for a while before executing any of his plans. He needed to wait patiently.

* * *

She felt his body slowly give in and instantly, she called his name, trying to keep him awake. Sasuke had his eyes half-closed and his vision was slowly becoming blurry. He felt really drained despite Sakura's transfer of chakra to him; it was as if something continued to eat away his life. "Sasuke-san, please stay with us." Came Hinata's usually quiet voice. He wanted to say that he will be fine to stop letting Sakura worry, he didn't like it whenever she was sad or worried about him; instead, what came out from his mouth were words that they couldn't understand.

"Demonic tongue…" Hinata whispered, knowing that Derick Uchiha dwells within the body of the Fallen they were carrying. "Derick is trying to speak to us." Sakura looked at Sasuke, seeing how his eyes were blank. "I… don't understand what you're trying to say…" Hinata only picked up the pace, telling Sakura to do the same as she activated her byaakugan. "We're getting closer to Jiraiya-san's, we have to hurry." The Chosen nodded as they flew faster, stopping abruptly when Hinata had told her to do so. "When I say now, take Sasuke and keep heading north, I assume you know what the monk's place looks like."

"Yeah, but why? Aren't you coming?"

"I can't." she said. "It seems that another Seraul has come out to play." She started to fly north, Sakura keeping up with the Angel's pace. "Ready?" she asked, Sakura unsurely nodding her head. "NOW!" and the pink-haired teen pulled Sasuke and flew as fast as she could past the Seraul which Hinata had stopped by pulling on its tail. Her palms were glowing white, her byaakugan still activated and her eyebrows creased together. "You will not go anywhere but here." She demanded and with enough strength she could muster, pulled the Seraul back.

Hinata spun around, dodging the attacks of the Seraul as she searched for vital areas of the creature. Getting a bit impatient, she did a seal and activated her full Angel mode. Unlike the others, she was in perfect control with her cursed mode, and didn't really have a dual personality. Her mark spread across her body while her short hair grew long, reaching below her waist, her angelic wings flapping behind her back, celestial feathers slowly falling down the ground accompanied by snowflakes. She was ready to fight; she was ready to give it her all.

The Seraul growled and flew directly at her. Hinata expertly evaded every quick attack the rogue gave, at the same time countering with double the effect. She managed to paralyze its right arm and tail, having more advantage in the battle. Some would smirk on the luck they got, yet Hinata was still dead serious, she didn't let her guard down and still treated her opponent as a higher level Seraul instead of her equal. It always pushed her to do her best.

"_This is for my friend's sake, for the world's sake." _She said in her mind, performing a few quick hand seals as she raised her hands in the air, chanting out an Angel language as her whole body glowed, blinding the rogue Fallen. "Angel's Blehm!" She cried out, spiritual angels appearing and attacking the rogue one by one at top speed. Without giving the enemy any chance to recover, Hinata summoned out her spear, saying a few holy words before she pierced it at the Seraul's heart.

* * *

"This is bad." Sakura wondered what Jiraiya meant as she watched Sasuke helplessly. He was slowly loosing his life as the mark continued eating away his chakra. "Even with my abundant supply of energy ki that I pass to him, the mark only sucks it all up. Clearly, this was what Tsunade was trying to avoid. She wanted Sasuke to stay clear from rogues or it will mean meeting Orochimaru. That trip to Hell had given him an effect." He eyed the pink-haired teenager who held onto one of Sasuke's hands. "Tell me, what did he see?"

She looked down at his almost lifeless figure before telling everything to Jiraiya. The monk only wiped a sweat away from his forehead as he continued to keep the Angelus alive. "I need Iruka here right now." He ordered one of his servants who nodded and began to send a telepathic message to the Angel of Life. In a few moments, Iruka had appeared with a poof, magically teleporting from Fujiten to Jiraiya's dojo. "What is it Jiraiya?"

"See for yourself."

Iruka was about to question him when he sensed a weird and eerie feeling. Looking at Sasuke's unmoving body, he quickly did a few hand seals and placed his palms over the boy's head, closing his eyes as he tried to explore the Fallen's mind. "Nightmares…" he said. "His past is haunting him… most of all… Orochimaru is slowly taking over his body." The Chosen and monk looked at Iruka as he continued to speak. "The trip to hell was a trap, sure Orochimaru was targeting Sakura, but he was also getting Sasuke. It was only a lie when he said he wants the Fallen dead and the Chosen alive, instead, it's the other way around."

"You mean, he wants me dead?" Sakura asked.

Life took a step back and checked Sasuke's temperature, feeling his body slowly growing cold. "Tell me Sakura," he said, trying to stop the mark from spreading all over the Angelus' body. "Do you have a child in your womb?" she remained quiet for a while and then nodded. "You do realize why Hellarium wants you dead, yet he cannot touch you, since you are no longer pure. Only one person can do his job." He glanced at Sasuke. "That is why he wants to take over Sasuke's body, by doing so, he needs to drain every ounce of chakra Sasuke has left, and finally, he'll take over, and use the Fallen as a vessel, then control him and kill you."

"Are you dead serious?" Jiraiya asked in bewilderment.

"Yes, I won't be joking at a time like this, not to mention," he looked back down at Sasuke and smiled slightly. "He's fighting Orochimaru from taking over, and Uchiha Derick is helping him out." he turned to Sakura. "I need you to close your eyes and search your mind for Uchiha Reishin, she's the only one who can help Sasuke right now. Derick plus Reishin together equals Orochiamaru retreating and leaving Sasuke's body for good. It would give us a better chance to win." Without anymore time to loose, Sakura let go of Sasuke's hand and did what Iruka told her to do.

"Jiraiya, you have to keep distributing chakra into Sasuke's body in order to keep him alive, remember this, if you stop, his life stops, and Orochimaru wins." He received a nod from the monk as Iruka continued to enter Sasuke's mind, trying to help him ad Derick out to battle against Orochimaru. _"Sasuke, don't let the darkness consume you."

* * *

_

She knew something was wrong while she was fighting against Hellarium. He was too relaxed for one thing, and it took her at least twenty minutes to figure out Orochimaru's plan. "You sick bastard…" she cursed. Orochimaru only snickered and merely wiped the blood on his lip away. "It's easy to target the Uchiha lad because of his past, not to mention how possessive and jealous a Fallen can get when it comes to their mate." He frowned though. "What's stopping me is that old monk who keeps distributing chakra to his body, that Iruka who is still giving the boy light, and Derick Uchiha who still has a strong will." Tsunade smirked at this.

"And that Chosen… whenever I'm about to have Sasuke completely, she appears in his mind and he instantly fights back despite his condition." Cartum only laughed a bit. "That's what he promised her, and Angelus are known for keeping their word. Sakura just happens to be Sasuke's only hope and determination that is keeping him alive. Sure there's Kakashi and his friends, but Sakura plays a big part that has a strong impact on him. She is his weakness, at the same time, strength."

"Rubbish." Retorted hell's leader. "In simpler terms, it's called love. I still say it's trash to even bother about those feelings."

"It amazes me though," Tsunade reasoned, blocking another kick from Orochimaru. He rasied a brow at her. "How can a kid like him, who ahs never felt the feeling love, ever feel it towards someone?" he only rolled his eyes at this as Tsunade snickered. "I know, yet you don't." He snorted. "It's quite obvious Tsunade." He said, disappearing all of a sudden and reappearing behind her. "His mother had sacrificed her own life to save him. That's also love." And he tried to knock her out, completely missing by half an inch. "I guess you're not so dense and dumb about feelings after all." She narrowed her eyes seriously. "Enough talk, let's finish this. The sooner I get rid of you, the better the Fallen would be."

"Go ahead," he snickered, snapping his fingers as the ground shook. "If you can." And when he said that, hell broke loose.

"_No… the Apocalypse…"_

**To be continued…

* * *

**

_Next on Fallen: Chapter 9: Withered Wings_

"_I wanted to start a family with you…"_

"You'll pay…" he whispered, holding her lifeless body close to his, black celestial wings engulfing the two of them as his mark continued spreading across his body. His eyes turning completely blood red, the commas of the sharingan spinning wildly as they glared into Orochiamru's yellow orbs. "I won't forgive you for this…"

"_Too bad… it can't happen…"_

Those were her last words, and he was going to make sure that he would get his revenge for his mate and his child. "I'll send you crawling back to hell!" and with a blink of an eye, he was behind Orochimaru and had his arms locked around his neck.

* * *

_A/N: Fallen is nearing its end! I'm not sure if the next chapter will be the last or the tenth chapter will be the finale! Depends! But hey, at least Yakuza II will replace it! _


	9. Withered Wings

_A/N: The demonic language is the English language spelled backwards… In any case, I'll put the translations beside it. The finale of Fallen is here!

* * *

_

**Fallen**

He took a sharp intake of breath and sat up abruptly, panting as the three people crowded him and asked if he was okay. Sasuke looked at his right hand, seeing and feeling it shake. His head hurt like hell and he thought he would give in to Hellarium if Iruka and Derick hadn't helped him out, not to mention… _"Reshin…" _he thought, looking at Sakura who returned it with a worried look. _"It was you all along…" _he said, still gazing at her.

They felt the whole place shake as all quickly stood up and glanced at the open window, seeing a winged man, his crow-like wings tattered, his hair long and a dark blood-red color, two sharp horns growing from his head, and his fangs very sharp and pointy, and his eyes were the color of purple, the pupils looking like a snake's. There were black marks all around his body, his topless form showing off his bulky size and a sinister grin on his lips. By instinct, Sasuke pushed Sakura behind him and glared at the new arrival, Jiraiya and Iruka stepping up beside the Fallen in their fighting stances.

"Apocalypse…" Iruka said, sweat dripping from his forehead. "That could only mean that the Cartum is defeated…" the said man laughed an evil laughter as he stepped inside, his bare feet sizzling the wooden floors of Jiraiya's dojo, hinting that he really came from hell. He pointed his right index finger at Sakura, showing his finely sharp nails that secretly had poison in them. "Eht nesohc, evig em eht nesohc…" (The chosen, give me the chosen) Sakura hugged Sasuke's arm, shutting her eyes and burying her face on his sleeves as she shook. She didn't understand demonic language, but she knew that Apocalypse was talking about her.

The Angel of Life turned to Jiraiya who gulped and faced Sasuke, who remained impassive and kept Sakura behind him. "Ton ni noillim sraey…" (Not in a million years) he answered in the same language, causing the Apocalypse to snicker, and the other three to glance at him. Iruka and Sakura were a bit shocked to find out that he could even speak Demon, while Jiraiya, who knew about it, didn't bother to say anything. Apocalypse then charged without warning, and Sasuke quickly pushed Sakura to Life who flew away from the fight as Jiraiya went to look for the Demon-Sealing scroll.

* * *

_**Chapter 9: Withered Wings**_

Iruka used his wings to keep chunks of wood from hitting the Chosen. He watched as Sasuke continued to duck and evade Apocalypse nails, sensing a deadly toxic inside the Apocalypse. "Eid!" (Die) the demon growled, aiming for Sasuke's throat. Having no time to evade the attack, Sasuke grabbed the enemy's wrist with both hands, stopping it from stabbing his throat in a mere inch. His back was against the wall and Apocalypse only forced his hand to the Fallen's throat. _"Damn it…" _he thought, trying to fight the force of the apocalypse.

He felt his mark sting and his grip on Apocalypse's arm loosened a bit, causing the demon's nails to give a scar on his left cheek since he dodged the assault, preventing it to hit his vital spot, only since the nails had poison, he too was poisoned. Falling to his knees, his right hand went over his mark, his eyes shut tight as the black seal started to spread over his body. _"No, don't…" _he ordered, letting the mark fall back. He panted, feeling the toxic rapidly invade his blood. He felt his chakra slowly draining from him as he looked up with a blurry vision. "Ouy lliw eid…" (You will die) says the demon as his right hand grasped the Fallen's neck, lifting him up a feet in the air as Sasuke struggled to break free. _"I have no choice…" _he thought, closing his eyes as he let the mark take over, his hands performed hand seals and when he opened his eyes, he revealed them red, the sharingan back in action as he took a deep breath and smirked at the Demon's face. "Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!"

Apocalypse instantly let go of the Angelus and shriek in agony, the fire of the Fallen burning his skin as he glared menacingly at the smirking Uchiha. "On eno reve did ekil a Fallen's erif."(No one ever did like a Fallen's fire) He stood up and summoned out his katana, getting himself to a fighting stance. "Tahw deneppah ot eht nosiop? Who emoc er'uoy ton detceffa yb ti?" (What happened to the poison? How come you're not affected by it?) Sasuke narrowed his sharingan eyes, having full control of his full-Fallen mode. "A lluf-Fallen edom sah fles-gnilaeh, ni dna tou." (A full-Fallen mode has self healing, in and out) and his body emitted a blue aura, his eyes closed and his wings appearing behind him, ready to block in case an attack was to be made while the Angelus was still healing himself.

Sasuke brought his katana in front of him, making it look like it divided his face into half. He glared at Apocalypse. "Emit rof uoy ot eid." (Time for you to die) and he attacked his opponent, the katana in his hand, the blade producing blue electricity, the sound of a thousand birds erupting from it. Iruka's eyes widened a bit. "Did he just enhance his raikiri?" Jiraiya came back with a scroll. He untied it, opened the whole thing as he heard the cry of pain the Apocalypse yelled out when Sasuke's blade stabbed the demon's chest.

Quickly placing the opened scroll down, the monk did a few seals and had his right palm face the middle kanji word of the scroll. He looked up and waited for Sasuke to pull out his sword before he gave a chant, light emitting from the scroll as Apocalypse winced at the wound he was given. He fell to his knees when his ears picked up the sound of holy mantra and his skin get touched by holy light. "Game over…" Jiraiya said, doing a final hand seal.

* * *

"Damn it!" Naruto cursed, his demon form slowly reverting back to normal. "I'm loosing more chakra than I thought." He said to himself, panting as the weakened but still fighting Seraul advanced towards him. His blue eyes turned to Neji, who was still fighting his own mark from taking over, then at Ten-Ten who was having a hard time to take down the rogue and Kakashi, who still had a battle on going with Kabuto. _"I can't give up just yet…" _he did a hand seal and smirked at the Seraul. "Can you handle two Narutos?" he asked, a clone forming beside him. "Or three?" he added another. "Or…" he grinned sheepishly. _"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" _and a thousand more of him appeared. "A thousand?" and they all attacked the Seraul with their best shots, the real Naruto forming his own technique, waiting for every clone to disappear. _"Here goes!" _he started to sprint at the rogue, his attack ready to kill it.

"Rasengan!" and when he hit the rogue's chest, it turned to black smoke. His eyes widened at this and soon, his back got hit by the Seraul's staff, causing him to hit a nearby tree, a pile of snow fell on him and again, he cursed loudly. "You fucking piece of shit!" he growled, the Seraul seemingly smirking, finding the blonde demon's antics amusing. Its smirk was wiped off its face when a hard kick landed at the back of its neck, causing it to break, finally killing it. "It takes another blonde demon to kick your sorry neck!" Came a feminine voice. Naruto looked up and gave a wide grin. "Ino!"

She gave a wink and a peace sign. "Yamanaka Ino is here to save the day!"

"Troublesome girl…" Naruto looked behind him to see Ten-Ten on the ground, on her knees, panting and Shikamaru in front of her, his holy gun aimed at the Seraul and he pulled the trigger, letting the blessed bullet hit the rogue's heart. He smirked slightly. "Sorry we're late, had to get rid of those Crusades and Seculars, good thing the Sand siblings came to the rescue, and yes, they're good guys who act bad to catch Oro-bastard, as Sasuke calls him, off guard."

"Put a sock in it…" Neji murmured, landing on the ground and letting his cousin kill the rogue Fallen. Hinata returned back to her normal state, her hair growing shorter once more as she smiled slightly. "Now it's only Kabuto left…" they turned to Kakashi who kicked Kabuto on the abdomen and followed it up with his chidori enhanced scythe. The white-haired demon got electrocuted from the contact with the weapon and slowly slid to unconsciousness. "No, we still have Orochimaru and Apocalypse to deal with."

"Apoca-who?" Naruto asked, scratching his head.

"My father."

* * *

His eyes widened when the final seal didn't do any effect. Apocalypse snickered at the monk's bewildered face and he slowly turned his gaze to the glaring Fallen then smirked. "Ouy thguoht ouy evah now..?" (You thought you have won..?) he snickered some more. "Ecnis er'uoy ym s'nos "nos", neht taht sekam uoy ym nosdnarg!" (Since you're my son's "son", then that makes you my grandson!) Sasuke's eyes widened for a split second until Apocalypse pushed him away, letting the Fallen hit his back on the wall. "Rof eht tsal emit, evig em eht nesohc!" (For the last time, give me the chosen!)

"Che, hell no."

Apocalypse growled and charged at Sasuke, only to be stopped by a chidori-enhanced scythe. He glanced at the user, smirking upon seeing his only son, Death, stop him from killing his "grandson". Kakashi narrowed his eyes at his father. "Don't kill my son…" he said in a threatening tone of voice, griping tightly onto his scythe. Kakashi's father only laughed as the rest of the team arrived. "Tahw sekam uoy kniht uoy nac pots em?" (What makes you think you can stop me?) Kakashi remained silent for a while, thinking up of an answer as he opened and closed his mouth, unable to answer the one he calls father.

"We don't think," came Sasuke's voice as he jumped over Kakashi and kicked Apocalypse away, causing him to fall on the ground on his butt, the Fallen heading behind him, a few feet away. "We know." Kakashi finished, hitting the floor with his scythe as he stood there, glaring at his father, Sasuke standing across him. Apocalypse's eyes widened when the rest of the gang positioned themselves, forming the six-pointed star position. The four guardians of the Chosen as well as Life and Death stood on their respective points. Altogether, they did some hand seals, stopping at the tiger. "Siht si ruoy dne…" (This is your end) Kakashi said, glaring at his father before a gust of wind gathered around the star and towards the middle, a black portal opening, the zephyr appearing to suck Apocalypse in as the six concentrated their chakra on the middle.

He felt his legs being pulled down, panicking at the same time. He glanced around, seeing the Chosen just a few feet away, and he smirked evilly at this, his arm seeming to suddenly stretch out like rubber to seize the Chosen's ankle, pulling her with him. Sensing this, Sasuke attempted to drop the seal and pull Sakura out of Apocalypse's grasp but Kakashi beat him to it, pouncing on his dad, giving extra weight to push his father down to hell, causing the demon to let go of the Chosen's ankle. Iruka took note of this and applied more chakra, doubling his energy ki to keep the portal open until Death could fly back up.

"Seal it!" he heard Kakashi yell. Iruka's eyes widened at this. "Are you crazy! If I seal it now then you won't be able to get out!" true, if they all let go of the seal, Kakashi will definitely not be able to come back. "It doesn't matter! Seal it not before my dad breaks loose of my hold!" Life hesitated, "SEAL IT!" regretfully, Iruka dropped the seal, having the breeze suck up everything else until the portal disappeared, the four guardians falling on their backs after being pulled by gravity, Iruka falling to his hands and knees as he shut his eyes tight, his brow creased. It all happened too fast for him, and because of numerous rogues appearing, he never even had the chance to send more time with Kakashi, and it only made him shed tears.

Sasuke stared at where the portal was once, not seeming to believe that his supposed father was gone with Apocalypse. Being in his state of shock, he failed to sense Hellarium approaching closer and performing a body-binding skill, causing all of the people in the room to freeze up and realize too late that they have been trapped. "Fools." He said, snickering. "Apocalypse was only a trick to lure all of you away, as well as to have Death go back." He turned to Sasuke. "You were always one step ahead of me, but now, it looks like I'm two steps ahead of you. First, I sent rogues to deplete your chakra and try to take over your body, and then my next trap took place when I sent Apocalypse, having all of you waste more than half of what's left of your chakra, weakening all of you in the process, and having your marks act up." When he said those words, all the four guardians felt the stinging pain on their marks, forcing their hands to grasp them yet they couldn't move.

Hinata, Ino and Ten-Ten also felt a slight pang on their own marks, causing the three girls to cry out in pain. Iruka fought the urge to let his own mark take control and instead, glared at Orochimaru who returned it with a smug smirk. "Looks like I win this time," he turned to Sakura. "Your mark hurts too, does it Chosen?" she didn't reply but only writhed in pain from the sting on her left collarbone. "I can't ease it like a Fallen can, but I can take you elsewhere to fulfill what I need and want." He seized her arm, pulling the girl up and hosting her over his shoulder. She couldn't fight due to her weakened state. Her mark is sucking up all of her chakra reserves and she couldn't fight to stay conscious.

"S-Sa…ku…ra…" she heard the father of her child call, forcing himself to stand up, only to fall back on his knees and try to get up again. "Let her go… you… son of… a-" He got kicked on the face by Orochimaru's feet, making him spat out blood as he tried to stand up again, only to get hit once more by Hellarium. "Tsk," he snickered at the teen. "What would your whole family say when they see you like this?" he shrugged and didn't wait for an answer from the Fallen as he walked away from the unmoving people, bringing Sakura with him.

As soon as Orochimaru has gone further away, they were all able to move once again. Catching their breaths, they exchanged looks and turned to Sasuke, seeing his head lowered and his fists clenched tightly. "Jiraiya," he said all of a sudden, startling the said man from the tone he used. "What are the chances of Hallarium bringing Sakura down below?" the monk blinked and cleared his throat. "Zero, he has no intentions to take her to hell, what he plans is…" he trailed off, watching as the Fallen walked over to a particular room. "…You're not going to… are you?" Sasuke ignored Jiraiya and went inside the room, getting changed into his battle clothes, putting on the black fingerless gloves as the finishing touches and summoning out his wings. "I'm going to stop him." He said after emerging from the room in an almost all-black attire. "Even if it means betting my life, I _will _stop him."

"You do know that she has… something in her womb…"

Sasuke glared at him. "A child, even if unborn, is not a thing." The monk nodded. "And yes, I know that it's my child dwelling inside of her, _ours _to be correct. And I'll do anything to save the two of them from Hellarium." Iruka stood up and eyed him, followed by the rest of the gang, Neji narrowing his eyes. "It's useless to save them, because the prophecy states that you have to spill innocent blood, and that blood happens to be your child's." he felt the Fallen's hand wrap around his neck tightly, but he didn't flinch, yet inwardly, he panicked as he saw sharingan eyes glaring at him. "I'm sick of following rules, laws, codes and all that crap Hyuuga, so don't tell me what to do, I'm doing this my own way whether you like it or not." He let go of the older teen and turned his back to him. "I'm not stopping any of you from going with me, nor will I force one of you to come, I'll leave that to your decision." And he started to walk away, only stopping when Naruto called him back.

The kyuubi vessel smirked and took a step forward. "I'm coming with you." Shikamaru sighed, scratching the back of his head and also stepping forward. "This is too troublesome, but you'll never know when you'll need a genius." He smiled slightly. "Count me in." the two turned to Neji who shook his head, a smirk appearing on his lips. "We can't be called the four guardians if there's only three of you right?" he looked up at Sasuke. "I'm going with you Uchiha, no matter how much of a pain you are."

"I'm coming too." Iruka said, looking at the Uchiha with a serious expression. "We will too." Ten-Ten announced, answering for Hinata and Ino. Jiraiya smiled a bit and stretched his arms. "Since all of you are going, then I'm going. Besides, I'd like to finally see Hellarium get his ass kicked." Sasuke only gave a nod and turned his head away, a smile creeping up his lips as his bangs shadowed his eyes. _"Everyone… thank you…"

* * *

_

She felt the cold winter air caress her bare shoulder. Sakura opened her eyes, blinking until her vision cleared. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, seeing a lot of snow-covered trees and mountains. She shivered when she felt the zephyr blow once more, her long hair going all over her face. She tried to brush her pink strands away, but realized that she couldn't, not with both her hands bound by a rope against a wooden cross, making her look like she was crucified. She wondered briefly why she was feeling cold when she had a jacket on earlier. Looking down, her eyes narrowed and her cheeks flared. She was wearing a light blue dress; the thin straps were over her shoulder, secured to a knot. The hem of it reached down just four inches above her ankles. Her left wrist was adorned with a silver bracelet; her left upper arm had a pink ribbon tied around it. _"Why the hell am I dressed up like this?"_

"Find your new clothing amusing Chosen?"

Sakura glared at the man that stood before her. "Pervert…" she muttered icily. Orochimaru snickered and shook his head. "As tempting as I'd like to undress you myself, I am not that rude to do that to a lady such as yourself while you're unconscious. I simply asked one of my female subordinates, Tayuya, to take care of your clothing." Sakura looked behind the man to see five demons standing straight, looking at her.

"What are you planning..?" she asked.

"I have to claim you, but since you already have an unborn Angelus living in your womb, it will be hard to do an abortion, especially since we burn when we try to touch a Fallen that is still a baby, or a fetus perhaps." He reached out to her as she struggled, yelling at him, protesting at what he was about to do. "Don't worry, for your sake, I'll make it less painful." He gestured one of the demons to knock her out. She felt her eyelids grow heavy, and soon, gave in to the darkness, but before loosing consciousness, she heard someone yell out to Orochimaru. _"Sa..su..ke..?" _and she blacked out.

"Orochimaru!" he turned to his side to see red eyes glaring at him. "Don't you _dare _touch her or our child!" Sasuke yelled, the sharingan activated and his katana poised in a deadly stance. Orochimaru jumped back, avoiding the blade from hitting him as the Fallen stood before his crucified mate, glaring at Hellarium. "Very good timing Sasuke," he snickered. "If you came a second too late, you wouldn't have a child."

"I'll send your sorry ass all the way down!" and after he said that, his katana began to give off a blue light, static electricity emitting from it, the chirping of birds rang through everyone's ears. "Chidori… Nagashi!" and he charged towards Orochimaru who took out his own sword, Kusanagi, from his mouth and blocked Sasuke's attack. He felt the electricity of the katana and immediately pulled away, a bit shaky after the assault. Sasuke smirked at this, the chakra from his sword not dispersing. "I owe Kakashi for giving me the chance to copy this attack. Looks like whatever defense you do, you'll get electrocuted."

"Nice trick." He commented, snickering. "I'll enjoy this fight."

* * *

"Sakura, Sakura!" Ino continued to pat the Chosen's cheek lightly, trying to wake her up as Hinata and Ten-Ten got rid of the annoying little imps that kept attacking them. When Sasuke attacked Orochimaru, the rest of the guys followed by charging straight at the five demons; the three of them, on the other hand, took Sakura and removed her from the cross. "If these good for nothing little bastards keep coming- I swear I'll murder them!" The Huntress yelled. "That's the whole point Ten-Ten." Ino muttered and continued to shake Sakura. "Wake up already!"

Her brows squint and she slowly opened her eyes, seeing a pair of blue ones that gave a relieved look. "Finally! I thought I had to bang your head to wake you up!" Sakura blinked and looked around, seeing Neji engaged in a battle with a big demon, who was chubby. Then at Shikamaru who fought with Tayuya. Naruto was busy with a two-headed demon, and Jiraiya was facing the other one. As for Iruka, he fought against Kabuto.

"You annoying little Fallen!"

She turned to the voice, seeing Sasuke stab Orochimaru on the arm with his chidori enhanced katana. Blood splattered on his face, covering one of his sharingan eyes and staining his raven hair. Sasuke pulled back and crouched low, still having his weapon coated with electric chakra. After having attacked Oro, he figured that the purpose of Chidori Nagashi was to numb an opponent when hit on any part of the body, if not, effectively knock him out or kill him. He glanced at his bloody katana.

"_Kakashi…" _he thought. _"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have learned the advantages of chidori." _He smiled slightly. _"Thanks _dad_." _And he turned his gaze back at Oro who couldn't use his right arm after the hit he received from the Fallen. "You annoying dirty-blooded angel…" the Uchiha's eyes widened upon hearing the insulting name of a Fallen. Noticing this, the smirk on Orochimaru's face grew as he walked closer. "Dirty-blooded Angel, that's right… your race is an insult to all, that's why you were all called Fallens, but that was not a very dirty name to call an Angelus, that's why they resorted to calling you dirty-blooded, and more effectively, since males are mostly on the Demonic side, they get insulted when they are called Angels."

Sasuke shook a bit, the grip on his katana tightening as he lowered his head, letting his blood-covered bangs shield his blood-smeared face. "What did you call me..?" he asked in a low and dangerous tone. His enemy smirked. "What's wrong? Did I offend the _angel_? You and that child of yours dwelling in the Chosen are dirty-bloods. And I'm sure, when that child is born," he smirked. "He'll experience hell from the people who despise your race."

"Keep my kid out of this…"

"Why? Your heir would die anyway."

"Shut up!" blinded by rage, he moved without thinking, and Orochimaru took this to his advantage and the Fallen's downfall. "You are too easy to piss off…" and he crouched low and used his sword to pierce the approaching target. He saw blood splatter on his blade, and he smirked, seeing the Fallen wince from the pain. Orochimaru pulled his kusanagi out and took a few steps back, watching how Sasuke fell to his knees, using his katana to support his body, his free hand held onto his wound. It was a vital hit on the abdomen, so instantly, he let his wings wrap him in a cocoon while he closed his eyes and concentrated on healing his injury.

"Caught you."

His instincts told him to look and when he did, his eyes widened when Orochimaru's sword emitted a black aura. _"Shit! My wings won't be able to stop that!" _he couldn't cease from healing; it was a risky move if he stopped his chakra flow from curing his wound. _"He tricked me…" _he thought, eyebrows knitting as he tried to think up of a plan. He got up slowly, his feet staggering and stopped his self-healing technique, causing his body to weaken a bit for loosing too much blood, at the same time, not completing the _jutsu_. _"At this rate… even if I kill him, I have to die…"_ his katana glowed blue again when he performed Chidori Nagashi. His knees were shaking, and he knew that he was on the brink of dying. _"But I can't die, not until I kill him." _He glared at Orochimaru who was fast approaching. _"Not until I… fulfill my task…" _

And before he knew it, he saw more blood splash. Only, it wasn't his blood nor his flesh that was stabbed by Kusanagi. His eyes widened, and gasps could be heard, and somehow, even Orochimaru was surprised from what happened.

* * *

"Damn you woman…" Shikamaru cursed, blocking the attack Tayuya sent him with his sword. "Haven't you had enough?" true, they've been fighting for a long time, and it appears that Shikamaru had a higher level than Tayuya, which caused the female Demon to pant and glare at the Hunter. Still, he gave her credit for fighting, despite the deep wounds he implanted, including the spraying of holy water and throwing three talismans at her. _"She's tough, just like Ino." _He bit his thumb, withdrawing blood from it and did numerous hand seals: "Summoning technique!" a bog cloud of smoke engulfed him, and when it cleared, Tayuya saw Shikamaru's arms crossed and a smug look on his face. He was standing on top of a big lion, its forehead boring a red X. "Let's end this." And the lion charged at Tayuya.

"_Shit!" _she cursed inwardly after feeling the paw of the lion on top of her, putting all its weight on her as she cried out in pain, vomiting blood. Shikamaru jumped down and with the use of his right index and middle finger, he wrote holy kanji words in mid air. After completing it, he made the seal of a tiger and opened his eyes. "Demon-Banning Technique, send this Demon to hell!"

A six-pointed star appeared below Tayuya and she felt the strong wind push her down the portal. She couldn't fight back, especially after receiving so many holy attacks from the Hunter, and the lion's paw pushing her down as well. Shikamaru sealed the opening and the lion disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He turned to see what the commotion was all about when he heard the girls gasp. When he saw what happened, it was his turn to freeze.

* * *

"Ugh…" Ridoumaru was smirking while choking Neji and pinning him to a tree. The Angel's hair was messed up a bit, strands of it covered some of his face and blood trickled down the side of his head when the demon he fought with hit his head hard against the strong bark of a tree. "Worthless Angel…" the demon said, throwing Neji on the snowy ground with great force. Neji gathered chakra in his hands and did a fighting stance after he got up, legs spread and knees bended, he activated his byaakugan and waited for Ridoumaru to come.

"Hakke…" he whispered as the Demon ran. "….Rokujuu…" he bent lower and when Ridoumaru was near… "…Yonshou!" he attacked with full speed, closing all tenketsu points of the demon, making sure that he won't be able to use his chakra any longer. "It's not yet over." He said. "Jyuuken!" with faster movements, he did a lot of punchi and kick combos, delivering fatal blows to any part of the Demon's body. Neji smirked afterwards when Ridoumaru was about to deliver a deadly attack on the Hyuuga. Bracing himself, he pushed his feet, making it slide on the snowy ground, and then twisted his whole body in a spinning feat. "Hakke Shou Kaiten!"

It caused Ridoumaru to fall back on his butt, grunting at the pain his body sent his brain, an after effect of Neji's combos. "Don't call me worthless, I merely had you thinking that you were winning. It's a simple trick. Not to mention how Demons easily fall for it, because of their ego." He did a few hand seals, letting his mark spread all over his body. His wings sprouted from his back, scattering celestial feathers on the snow-covered soil, blending in with the whiteness of it. "Time for you to go back to hell." He said, having stopped at the tiger seal. "Sealing Technique: Send the Demon back to Hell."

Just like what happened to Tayuya, minus the portal, a black hole opened below the ground that Ridoumaru was standing as it swallowed the demon, bringing him to the black abyss of Hell. Neji released the seal, closing the portal. He heard his girlfriend fall to her knees, staring at where Sasuke and Orochimaru was. Wondering what was wrong, he turned to where she was staring and his brows creased while his eyes widened, his whole body shaking from what he saw.

* * *

Naruto spat out the blood in his mouth. Even in his demon form, Sakon almost managed to keep up with his level when he himself let his mark spread as well. "I feel so insulted to have to face you," he spat. "You're the weakest demon I've ever met." Naruto clenched his fist at this, his orangey aura growing more abnormal than ever, instead of four tails, it turned to six, a fast way for the Kyuubi in him to get stronger. His whiskers were more visible now, and his eyes gave a dangerous glint when he set them on his prey: Sakon.

"Fierce." The older demon commented, snickering. "Come." And the bearer of the fox demon charged on all fours. Sakon's eyes widened when the teen was able to use the extra chakra for attacking. He never knew that he could be touched by it. Taking his mark to the next level; a horn grew on his forehead, his teeth turning to fangs and his nails turning to claws. His hair grew longer and skin darker, he laughed at the Kyuubi demon, taunting it some more. "Taren Ken." He said, giving a series of punches and kicks to the younger demon. It was too fast for him to block all, if not, most of the assaults.

"My turn…" Naruto said, smirking. He rushed head on at Sakon, performing a seal and cried out: "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" four replicas of him came and immediately cornered Sakon. "U-ZU-MA-KI…" said the four, kicking the adult demon upwards as the real one jumped up in the air and followed it up with a strong kick, sending the demon in the ground with great power and strength. "Naruto rendan!" his clones dispersed and he jumped back, checking the damage he has done.

Sakon slowly staggered to his feet and coughed out a lot of blood. "Not bad kid." Naruto gave a goofy grin and pointed at him. "It's not exactly original since it's my own version of Sasuke-teme's Shishi rendan, but mine's better!" he glared at Sakon when the demon scoffed. "I bet the Fallen's attack is stronger though." He laughed and charged again. Naruto smirked and when Sakon gave a punch, the blonde demon turned into a log. _"Replacement technique!" _he sensed Naruto behind him and his eyes widened upon seeing the seal of the tiger. _"He's going to send me back!" _But…

"Hatake Kakashi's original technique: Sennen Goroshi! Pain of a thousand years!" and Naruto sdid a powerful ass-poke against Sakon's rear, causing the older demon flying to the sky. "It's not yet over!" Naruto said, doing a couple of handseals and also stopped at the tiger seal. "Return Technique: Trap the demon in hell!" and when a portal opened Naruto did a clone of himself, having the fake take his place as his demon wings appeared from his back, letting him fly after Sakon. "Down to hell you go!" he yelled, kicking Sakon with a forceful kick, sending him falling down to the pit like a speeding bullet. The clone released the seal once the hole swallowed Naruto's opponent up, at the same time, the fake Naruto vanished into a puff of smoke.

"Heh. I love pranks." He heard Hinata emit a small gasp of "Oh no" and when he turned his head, he felt his knees bukle, causing him to drop to the ground. "W-what- n-no way…"

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me…" Kabuto muttered when his back was against Jiroubou. The two were cornered by Iruka and Jiraiya who had smirks on their faces. The two Demons were bound by one of Jiraiya's chakra strings that were specifically made for Hunters/Huntresses to capture rogues, Angels, Demons or Fallens. Whichever, it was an effective way to send or eliminate them. "Iruka, care to do the honors?" Life nodded and did the same seals Neji did earlier.

They didn't fight at all. They just took the advantage of their opponents being near to each other, and with Iruka's smarts and Jiraiya's sneaky mind, they managed to capture the two with just one attack. As the saying goes, they killed two birds with one stone. Stopping at the seal of a tiger, a portal opened, this time, above the two demons and it sucked the two up, along with the chakra strings that Jiraiya used.

"Goodbye…" the monk teased, waving mockingly at the two as the portal faded. Iruka looked up as the winter breeze blew pass them. _"Kakashi… I hope you'll come back someday…" _his keen sense of hearing picked up the sound of a sword being pierced through flesh, and he felt two souls being lost. Eyes widening, he and Jiraiya slowly turned their heads, dreading what was to meet their eyes. "Sa-Sa…ku..ra..?" The Angel of Life turned to look at how the Fallen was taking all this, as he expected, Sasuke stood there behind Sakura, his katana on his side, the chidori fading, and his sharingan eyes reverting back to onyx, showing how his eyes went wide and dilating.

* * *

Orochimaru immediately let his sword go and stepped away, his hands shaking after seeing the blood of an unborn Fallen stain his sword. Sakura coughed out blood, her hands shakily pulling the sword out of her stomach. She let out a cry of pain, snapping everyone back to reality as they all ran towards her. Sasuke quickly caught his wounded mate, preventing her from falling to the ground. His eyes clouded with tears when he saw her in pain, when he saw how she still managed to give a small smile to him. "S-sorry…" she whispered. He tightened his hold on her body, feeling her skin grow colder as each seconds tick by. "I'm… sorry… to cause you… this much trouble…" she continued. "Stop it…" he said, "Stop talking…" he forced a smile despite the tears he shed. "You'll be fine… just hang in there…" he choked, the others stood there, unable to say or do anything.

She smiled again, her face was still beautiful and angelic even if she was covered in blood. "I wanted to start a family with you…"

"I know… I do too… and we will… once this is over, we can…"

Sakura slowly shook her head, reaching up to touch his face. "We can't…" she whispered. "Too bad… it can't happen…" she felt the pain on her wound and she flinched from it. "I-I'm sorry our… son had… to die…" she said, feeling her life force slowly draining. She looked at him and forced a smile, her eyes closed. "I love you…" and her hand dropped. At that moment, he felt like the whole world crashed, he felt his heart shatter to pieces; he felt that he was alone in this world, again.

"Sakura..!" he called out, shaking her. "Sakura…" he said again. When she didn't respond, he knew it was hopeless, but he couldn't help but cry out her name over and over. "Sakura!"

"_I wanted to start a family with you…" _he could remember her dying words, and he couldn't help but cry. For the first time since his family's death, Uchiha Sasuke cried. _"Too bad… it can't happen…"_ and indeed, it couldn't.

"Tsk," Orochimaru said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. "Tsunade told me that Sakura-chan wouldn't dare sacrifice her son to fulfill the prophecy, but look at what happened, she just did." He turned to Sasuke, seeing his head lowered; both blood and tears rolled down his cheeks as he cried silently. "It's all your fault, you worthless dirty-blooded angel, she died because and for you. Now you have to face the consequences. You killed your own family, just like what you did back then." He snickered. "You're destined to be alone. Face reality, Sakura-chan is gone."

"Don't call her that!" he replied harshly, gaining the attention of all. "Why not? Even when she's dead, you're still possessive of her? That's not a Fallen's trait." Sasuke lowered his head some more, giving a light, tender kiss on Sakura's forehead, brushing her bangs away. _"Sakura, thank you…" _he didn't know what he could say any more, so he just thought of it, thanking her for everything she has done.

"Looks like the law was false," he said, casually checking on his nails as if he was a preppy girl. "I'm not yet dead."

"You'll pay…"

"Hm?" he looked at Sasuke, a bit taken aback when he saw his eyes, his wings sprouting from his back and his mark starting to activate.

"_I wanted to start a family with you…"_

"You'll pay…" he whispered, holding her lifeless body close to his, black celestial wings engulfing the two of them as his mark continued spreading across his body. His eyes turning completely blood red, the commas of the sharingan spinning wildly as they glared into Orochiamru's yellow orbs. "I won't forgive you for this…"

"_Too bad… it can't happen…"_

Those were her last words, and he was going to make sure that he would get his revenge for his mate and his child. "I'll send you crawling back to hell!" and with a blink of an eye, he was behind Orochimaru and had his arms locked around his neck.

The others stared in disbelief at the speed Sasuke had displayed. Hellarium felt sweat trickle down his face when the Fallen's grip on him tightened, choking him on the spot. "L-Let… go o-of… m-me…" he said, trying to break away from the grasp of the Angelus. Sasuke wrapped the two of them in his wings and closed his eyes. He distributed chakra all over his body, feeling his muscles heat as he engulfed himself in flames, along with Orochimaru who could escape his grip. Hellarium cried out in pain and agony, feeling the fire burn his skin.

Even if Hell was said to be a fiery place, an Angelus' fire is hotter and intense than below: which is why most rogues and other beings back away or flee when they sense a Fallen's urge to use fire power.

"What's happening..?" Naruto asked, shaking after hearing Orochimaru's ear-splitting scream. Neji gulped at this and tried to calm down. He never did want to come across a rogue Sasuke, as he'd like to dub him when his mark spreads. "Fire…" Hinata said when she activated her byaakugan. Instead of performing the usual fire technique that comes from his mouth, he's letting the flames engulf his whole body, yet not getting burned at all."

"_Kakashi… you taught him this… did you?" _Iruka thought grimly. "It'll be followed up by a higher level enhanced chidori."

"What?" Ino asked, turning to face Life. "That can't be possible!"

"It can. Especially if he's willing to die just to kill Orochimaru."

"But I thought we were just going to send him back?" Ten-Ten asked, joining in on the conversation. Iruka shook his head. The Cartum instructed me to send Hellarium back if we can't kill him." He glanced over his shoulder. "Isn't that right, Tsunade-sama?"

"Yes."

Surprised, they gave questioning looks at the blonde who had bandages all over. "I may be Magna Carta's leader, but I don't possess self-healing techniques. After Apocalypse came out, this is what happened, that's why I couldn't stop Hellarium." She looked at where the scream was coming from. "But he can."

Orochimaru suffered from third degree burns, and if that wasn't enough, Sasuke did the unthinkable. He enhanced his whole body with chidori, causing Orochimaru's body to go numb, at the same time, shake from the electrocution. Sasuke's arm loosened, and he pulled back, jumping in the air. His breath was shallow, and he could feel his chakra draining fast. _"This is it…" _he said, closing his eyes and doing a few seals.

"_Ka-chan, I'm sorry to use this technique…" _he flew down towards Orochimaru and drew out his Katana. He stabbed Orochimaru's long cloak to hold him in place. "You're finished!" he did the final hand seal: "Fuuinjutsu Shiki Fuujin!" the group watched as Death appeared, in his hand was the katana of Uchiha Mikoto, the one that was used to take away the Uchiha Matriarch's life, including the demon that possessed Sasuke when he was a child.

"Kakashi!" Iruka yelled.

Kakashi didn't respond, yet he hesitated in stabbing his son from behind. "Sasuke…"

The force of the summoning Death technique had the winter air blow stronger than a storm. Sasuke craned his neck and looked at Kakashi in the eye. "Do it…" he said. Kakashi shut his eyes and plunged the katana through Sasuke's stomach, all the way to Orochimaru until the sharp point of the blade can be seen emerging from Hellarium's back. Sasuke coughed out blood and glared at Orochimaru, sharingan still activated. "D-Damn you…" Hellarium cursed. "This is… for all the mistakes… my ancestors and I did… I'm correcting them by killing you!" he felt Kakashi slowly pull the sword, making sure Orochimaru's soul was getting absorbed by it.

"Teme, don't do it!" Naruto yelled, attempting to stop both Sasuke and Kakashi from finishing the technique, yet Tsunade blocked his path and looked at Naruto with a sorrowful expression. "He has to do this Naruto…" she turned to face the three men. "It's his fate… and the only way to get rid of Orochimaru once and for all."

"Pull it…" Sasuke whispered, feeling weaker as the seconds tick by. Kakashi shakily pulled the katana, at the same time take up Hellarium's soul until the sword completely devoured it. "Seal!" Sasuke said, doing a one hand tiger seal and Kakashi pulled the katana completely, causing Sasuke to fall on his knees and Orochimaru to fall dead on the blood-soaked snowy ground. Tsunade quickly took action and performed a few seals, chanting a holy mantra as she had her palms over Orochimaru's unmoving body. White light emitted from her and it ate away Hallarium's corpse, causing it to dissolve and let the wind carry it far away.

She faced Sasuke with narrowed eyes. "This was the alternative way, why didn't you just kill Orochimaru with any of your attacks?" Sasuke lowly opened his eyes and sat up with Kakashi's help. "Iruka… sen… sei…" Life looked at him as Sasuke gripped onto Kakashi's sleeve, feeling the wound on his stomach eat away his remaining life force. "Get Sakura…" he said, his eyes squinted. Iruka carried the girl and ran over to them, laying her on the ground. "Tsunade…" she looked at the Fallen. "Our deal…" he reminded. "You should know why I… chose this…"

Her eyes widened.

"_I'll kill Orochimaru, but you have to promise me one thing…"_

"_And what's that?"_

"_If that day happens, you have to revive one of my comrades or loved ones who died."_

"…_Alright, but I can only grant one person to live."_

Tsunade looked down and opened her mouth. "Iruka…"

"Hai!"

"Perform the resurrecting technique."

"On who?"

Tsunade turned to Sasuke who held onto his wound. "Bring Sakura back to life."

Life nodded and bent down on one knee, doing complicated seals as he stopped and chanted. Slowly, Sakura's wound healed, and her face returned to her normal color, her cold body growing warm, and again, her chest moved up and down. "She's alive, but she'll wake up tomorrow. However, the baby… I cannot resurrect him."

Sasuke pushed Kakashi away a bit and looked down at his mate. "Leave that to me."

"What?"

The others joined them and stared at Sasuke in disbelief. What the hell was he talking about? And it seems that Shikamaru had just voiced out their thoughts. "Even if you can, your chakra is not enough to bring back the dead!" Sasuke ignored them and closed his eyes, placing a hand over Sakura's womb, he concentrated chakra on it as they all saw a blue light being transferred to her stomach. Kakashi's eyes widened at this. "Sasuke, stop it!" he yelled and was about to yank his arm yet the Angelus' wings prevented Kakashi from doing so.

"What is he doing?" Naruto questioned Death who still tried to stop his son/student from completing the transfer. "Don't you dare-" but he stopped when the blue light faded, and when his son slowly collapsed to the ground, unmoving. A few seconds pass, Ino screamed.

* * *

She slowly opened her eyes, feeling the warmth of the room she was in. Sakura sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Finally awake Sakura?" she turned to see Tsunade and the rest of the gang looking at her with relief. She smiled at them. "How are you feeling?" Cartum asked. "Fine," she said and looked around, apparently searching for someone. "Tsuande-san, where's Sasuke?" all remained quiet afterwards, and their smiles turned to a frown. She blinked and saw Kakashi. "Sensei, you're back!" she exclaimed, but when he didn't return her smile, she felt something bad happened.

"Sakura," she faced Iruka. "Sasuke, he's…"

Her eyes widened.

"…Dead." Kakashi finished, looking away. "W-what..? N-no! You're lying." She tried to laugh. "Okay, okay, you got me, stop joking around, where is he?"

"He's fucking dead okay? We're not kidding around!" Neji snapped and soon left the room, slamming the door as Ten-Ten apologized to Sakura and followed her boyfriend. "H-How can… that happen?"

"When you died," Iruka began. "He fought with Orochimaru. He killed Oro by summoning Death," he turned to Kakashi. "He did the alternate way of killing Hellarium, just so that Kakashi can come back here, just so that he wouldn't suffer in Hell." Iruka took a deep breathe in. "He made a deal with Tsunade-sama, that when he kills Orochimaru, she would grant at least one life lost to return. He chose you Sakura."

"But how did he die?"

"Because of summoning me here, it could kill him, yet having Uchiha Derick in him prevented me from taking away his life as well, and instead, Derick sacrificed his own, which is why Sasuke still lived after that technique." Kakashi glanced at Sakura's womb. "He only had enough life force to transfer to you, to let yours and his son live. In exchange, he gave away his life."

Her hand went to her stomach unconsciously, feeling the life that was in it.

"He wanted you and the child to live, yet I can only grant one life, he chose you to be resurrected, because his remaining life force won't be able to bring you back to life, yet it can, however, return the child." Kakashi walked over to her, presenting the katana Sasuke used to keep Orochiamru in place. "Keep it." He whispered. "It would protect you when we're not around." She held onto the sheathed katana, afraid of letting it go, as if it was Sasuke.

"_I'll always be here to protect you…"

* * *

_

**Epilogue: I promise…**

It's been years since Hellarium was killed, and Sakura had given birth to a boy, almost identical to his father, except for his eyes which were green like hers. Like his father, he too had the sharingan, and the blood of a Fallen running in him. "Come on Saki-kun." She said, pulling her eight-year old son as they walked down the street, Sasuke's katana strapped around her back. She stopped at Kakashi's palce, where they both live, and entered, announcing their arrival.

"Hey Sakura, Saki, welcome back." He greeted, still busy cleaning the whole living room. "Uncle Kaka!" Saki cheered, running over to Death, hugging his pant leg. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, smiling and ruffling the boy's hair. Saki reminded him so much of Sasuke when the boy was only eight. _"I wonder if Saki will take after his father's personality too…" _he looked away for a moment, staring at the dining area, recalling the days where he would have a drinking contest with Sasuke and Sakura trying to stop them from drinking more.

He chuckled at the memory, earning questioning looks from the two. He waved it off, saying that he just remembered something before starting to clean up again. Sakura shrugged and continued to unpack the groceries. When she took out a tomato, she stopped and looked at the ceiling, feeling odd. She shook her head and continued with her task.

Saki, on the other hand, went up to the attic and climbed out of the roof. He sat there and watched the skies, smiling at how the birds flew and chirped. When he saw one that seemed so near to his touch, he got up and tried to reach out, yet he lost his footing and slipped. "Ka-chan!" he yelled when he fell off the roof. He shut his eyes, awaiting the pain he would get from the ground when he lands, only to feel calloused yet warm hands catch his little body. He felt the owner of those hands, carry him like a baby. Saki peered over his shoulder, seeing raven hair like his that were spiked up to the back.

"You still don't know how to use your wings, huh Saki?"

The eight year old pushed himself away gently and found himself staring into deep onyx eyes that reflected his image. A smile formed on his lips as he gave a childish laugh, like he was being tickled. "Nope, I don't!"

"Saki-kun!"

He looked up when he heard his mother call him. He grinned when half of her body came out from the three-storey high window and looked down, ready to scold her son but she stopped and stared instead. "Ka-chan!" Saki waved. "Look who caught me!" he exclaimed. "He's back ka-chan! Tou-chan saved me!"

She paid no heed to her son's words, but instead stared into the eyes of the man who had her son, technically, his as well. "Sasuke-kun…" she whispered, her eyes starting to water. Saki looked at his dad and smiled. "Tou-chan's back." Sasuke put his son down and looked back up at Sakura, a smile on his face. "Hey forehead…" he whispered back.

"_Heaven, Earth or Hell…"_

She stepped out of the window and stood on the roof, her bluish-white wings sprouting from her back s tears started to roll down her cheeks, her lips curved into a smile.

"_Wherever and whichever…"_

He, in turn, smiled warmly at his mate and had his celestial black wings come out of his back. He flew towards her as she jumped down and flew down to him.

"_I'll always find a way to be with you forever…"_

He wrapped his arms around her waist while her left one rested on his shoulder, her right touching his face, making sure this wasn't a dream but reality. "Sasuke-kun…" she cried. "Sakura…" and he pulled her to an embrace as she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tight.

Below, Saki watched as his parents were reunited once more. Kakashi stood beside the kid and smiled, glancing behind him when he felt a presence. "You're too soft you know…" he commented. A snort replied him. "Very un-lady-like Tsunade-sama."

"Well, I can't help seeing Sakura sad and crying herself to sleep." She turned to Saki who was oblivious to her. "Besides, that kid needs a dad, his real dad." She turned around and raised a hand. "Well, I have to go back to Magna Carta, looks like an Angelus isn't really dirty-blooded; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to enter my realm."

"Right, you actually welcomed him there."

"Say what you want." And she faded into the light. Kakashi smiled and turned back to the two lovers who were still in the air and in each other's arms. "Come Saki, let's leave them alone for a while." He tugged on the boy's hand who followed his uncle eagerly inside the apartment.

"Sasuke…" she whispered, looking up at him. "How..?"

He smiled at her. "I'm half Angel and half Demon, therefore, depending on how good or bad I was, I can enter either Magna Carta or Hellarios. Since I killed Orochimaru, Tsunade welcomed me in Magna Carta, and granted me life, another chance to live here."

"What took you so long?"

"I had to do a few more things to prove to the councils and elders of Magna Carta that I am worth to be resurrected again. And it seems that a child's prayer is the strongest request and proof ever." Sakura blinked confusingly at him. "You didn't tell Saki that I was dead, so he prayed, every night, that I return from where I came from."

"I see…" she said. He smirked and pulled her up, flying ahead of her up in the clouds. "Sasuke..?" he stopped and pulled her up to be in eye level with her. "Watch." He said, turning to his left as the sun began to set. She gazed at the big ball of fire, entranced by its beauty and majestic glow. "Like I said before…" she faced him again. "…I'll always find a way to be with you forever…" he leaned down to her, their lips centimeters apart as she tilted her head and closed her eyes.

"I promise…" he finished. "Sealed with a kiss…"

_**The End

* * *

**_

_A/N: Cheesy ending… but at least no one is really dead! There! Are you happy now? Oh well, Fallen's finished! I'm half happy to have accomplished another fic, at the same time, sad that this is over. Oh well, Yakuza II is here! Thank you everyone for supporting this, despite how lame it can sometimes be. See you in the last chapter of Snapshot as well as in Yakuza II! Ciao!_


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